The Dragon Slayer and the Knightess
by Emperor Zeref Dragneel
Summary: Erza and Natsu end up going on a job together, with the whole matter leaving Natsu in complete confusion. On the other hand, Erza wants to confirm her growing feelings for her longtime friend so she decides to take this chance to find out. What will she discover? Plus with them threat of a new group of foes, will she survive long enough to find out her feelings?
1. Chapter 1

**The Dragon Slayer and the Knightess**

**Full summary: **Natsu and Erza go on a job together due to a twist of unexpected events. The events from the Tower of Heaven still fresh in her mind; Erza starts considering her growing affection for her pink-haired friend. Could it be romantic love or is it a simple case of platonic love as it was when they were kids? And within the horizon, a new enemy group emerges so Erza has to consider her feelings while fighting off this new threat. Will she manage to find an answer when everything is said and done?

**Main Pairings: **The story as a whole will focus on Natsu and Erza, with a little of other pairings on the side, such as Gray and Juvia. There will also be a friendship bond between Levy and Lucy.

**Timeline: **This happens after the events of the Tower of Heaven arc and before the Oracion Seis Arc.

**Disclaimer; **I do not own the amazing manga and anime that is Fairy Tail( even though it's my second best of all time, only second to Naruto, OBVIOUSLY!)

**A/N: **This is only my second fanfic, my first being a Naruto one so I decided on my second being one of Fairy Tail. This is an idea I originally had two years ago but since I didn't have a lot of time back then i couldn't really do much about it. So here I am, two years later XD. I hope you guys don't mind the time lapse. I plan to update my Naruto fanfic as soon as possible so don't think I've dropped it(even with that horrible excuse of an ending) Natsu and Erza make a really cute couple in my opinion so I thought I would write something about them. I hope you guys like it. So, here goes nothing.

_A Decent Job_

Natsu Dragneel stood in front of the request board for what was the third time that day. He was checking if there were any decent jobs that were worth going to, since for the two times he had checked earlier that day, he termed the ones which were already there as 'lame'.

"Still reading through the jobs, Natsu?" Natsu was startled and turned around to come face-to-face with MiraJane. "Oh, it's you, Mira-San. Yeah, there's not one job that's worth doing." "Why don't you just go out for a stroll and when you come back, a worthwhile job will have popped up?" Cana, who was seated on her favorite seat in the hall while holding a barrel of liquor, suggested.

*sigh*"Okay, Guess I should," Natsu replied( He almost considered sneaking up to where the S-class request board was and steal a job from there if a decent job didn't appear within the next few minutes, and gave a slight chuckle at the idea) . Just as he was about to open the door, a sound appeared on the request board and Natsu recognized it all too familiarly. It was the sound of a job being posted on the request board. Natsu leapt for joy, "Yes! Finally, " Natsu raced back to the request board. The job involved saving a kidnapped boy. Natsu did not like the description of the job very much but when he skimmed through the sheet of paper and reached the bottom where the reward was written. He opened his mouth wide in shock.

"Wow! That's a lot of zeros!" He exclaimed. The price at hand was 200,000,000 jewels. "Then it's decided. I take first dibs on this mission." Levy, Jet and Droy, who had gone to see what the job was, sighed in defeat. "Not again," Levy said.

"Just hope that this time things don't go awry like they did last time," Macao told him. Natsu gulped and knew that he was referring to the time that he, Lucy and Happy had gone to retrieve a book named Daybreak for a client called Zekua Melon. The reward for the job was 200,000 jewels but due to Lucy, they never got the reward.

"Don't worry. This time I won't be going with Lucy. She went to see her dad in Acalypha and won't be coming back till after tomorrow. I'm thinking that I should do this job al…."At this point a feminine voice interjected, which Natsu knew all too well, "Then I'll come with you," Erza interrupted, before Natsu could complete his sentence.

Everyone in the guild was surprised at this sudden declaration, but none more so than Natsu, who in his wildest dreams had never imagined Erza volunteering to go on a job with him. He was about to ask why, but a stern glare from Erza and a concerned Mira shaking her head made him reconsider his decision a few minutes later.

_End_

**A/N: **Well, that's the end of Chapter 1 guys. I originally intended for it to be longer than this but this will have to do for now, since this is going to be a really long story, so I intend to follow it through all the way. Read and Enjoy.


	2. Time Alone

**A/N: **Here is Chapter 2 of my "The Dragon Slayer and the Knightess". In this chapter Natsu and Erza go to see the client of the job to get more details regarding the job, and Erza finally has a chance to be alone with Natsu. Will anything happen during this short time spent together? Read and find out! (Thanks for the follow, WaynerzOrz and all the 66 views ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. They are the sole property of Hiro Mashima.

_Time Alone_

"Erza-san, are you sure about this?" asked Cana. "You don't have to bother yourself going on such a mission, I'm sure Natsu will be more than enough to handle it, won't you, Natsu?" Cana turned to Natsu_. "Yosha! Thanks, Cana!" _Natsu rejoiced inwardly. To his surprise, however, Erza didn't even look fazed by the question. She turned to Cana and looked at her a little before replying, with a look of total seriousness, "There's something that's been bothering me for a while around Earthland, I've been sensing something foreign made its way into this continent a while ago. So this mission gives me a chance to go out and confirm my suspicions. _That, and there's something that's been bothering me inwardly relating to Natsu, so I want to understand it once and for all, since that day…."_ (She added inwardly, not telling Cana or any other of the guild mates who were in the hall). "Oh, what's wrong, Erza? If it's something we can help we'd be glad to help with, "Mira chimed in. "Yeah, you know you could always talk to us and we can help with this threat, or whatever it is that you said it was," added Levy. Jet and Droy beamed next to her, hoping that this would be their chance to get a job after failing to get any job that day.

"No, I'm afraid I can't do that right now. It may very be well be a false alarm, and I don't want the guild to be in trouble due to not having enough people, in case anything comes up within this city. So just stay put here, ''Erza answered. (Levy, Jet and Droy all became disheartened by this, which went unnoticed by Erza) She continued, "In case anything does come up, I'll be sure to let the master know. You will be here, won't you?" she finished the sentence, now looking up at the staircase. Natsu turned his head in that direction, and saw that Makarov had appeared and was sitting on the railing. He had his eyes closed, but as soon as Erza finished her question, he opened one eye, before saying, "Of course, Erza. Notify us if anything does happen, and good luck on your mission, you two." He was looking at Natsu, who still seemed to be petrified by the news regarding Erza coming with him on his job. Mira tapped him a little on the shoulder, which seemed to bring him out of his frozen stupor. He looked at her a little, and she smiled at him, before whispering to him, "Good luck, and make sure you don't die." Natsu managed to smile back at her a little, before proceeding to follow Erza, who was now out of the building. Before he shut the door behind him, he saw the remaining guild mates wave him goodbye and mutter something, which seemed to be what Mira had said before, and understood that they were telling him to be careful around Erza.

Once the duo was outside on the street, Natsu asked Erza what their next course of action was going to be. She told him that they had to first go to the client to confirm the details of the job, since the request didn't exactly leave a lot of details except the fact that the job involved rescuing a kidnapped boy. Natsu agreed with her; although he wanted to go do the job as quickly as possible, he did not know where he would even start searching from. "Wait, where does the client live?" He asked again, and Erza replied, "Here within Magnolia. He stays in the same place where you went for your first job with Lucy." They were walking as they spoke, and Natsu was actually happy that nothing had happened yet. After a few minutes of walking, Erza suddenly asked, "So, how was your first job with Lucy? I didn't really hear anything about it since I was away on that really long mission at the time." Natsu was startled at her a bit because he really didn't expect her to ask him something like this, and scratched his head a little before replying, "It was okay, I guess. Although, a total bummer for me. There weren't even any strong opponents to fight and I don't really like books, so it was kind of bland." Erza chuckled a little, "Well, you were always the kind for more dangerous job like this one, so don't tell me you'll be bored at the end of this job, or else I'll really let you have it!" She raised her fist in the air, albeit in a playful manner, to which Natsu yelped, "Yes, maam!" However, he noticed that Erza wasn't really as strict when she said this like she was in the past. "Come on, I'm not that old for you to start calling me maam," she playfully punched him, and Natsu made to rub the spot where he was punched, but noticed that it wasn't really as painful as it seemed. In the past, that punch would have left a bruise, since Erza would have been mad at being called "maam". Brushing this off as Erza just being friendlier for a change, he noticed that they had arrived at the client's house. Erza knocked at the door, and after a few minutes of no reply, the door was opened by a servant. She was clad in a maid uniform, and had her hair tied up in twin tails. Erza noticed she was very pretty, and looked around at Natsu to see if he had any reaction. Natsu just kept staring at the client's yard, being clearly amazed by how big the whole area was. She almost laughed, and remembered that Natsu had never shown any reaction to any female in almost his entire life, and for some odd reason this thought set her at ease. The servant, whose name was Manami, according to her nametag that was set on her chest area (she had sizeable breasts) asked, "What business do you have here?" Erza showed her the piece of paper which had the job description written on it, before answering, "We've come to inform the client of the job that we will handle the job that he submitted to our guild today." The maid took the paper and looked at it a little, before proceeding to ask both Erza and Natsu to show their guild marks. Natsu showed her his arm, and Erza noticed the maid blush a little over how well built he was, causing her to seeth internally. Manami looked as if she was about to touch the mark, but decided against it( possibly due to the fact that Erza was there) .Erza then proceeded to roll up her shoulder blade to show Manami her mark, and Manami almost paid no attention to it, before leading the two into the house.

The house was way bigger inside than outside and even Erza couldn't help but be impressed. Natsu, who was ogling at all the expensive furniture, and started leaping from sofa to sofa, which caused Erza to scold him, however, Manami seemed to be happy with all that was going on. "I see you've taken a liking to all the furniture within my household," a deep voice echoed within the walls of the building. Natsu stopped leaping momentarily on what was his third sofa, and looked up to the direction of the sound. A short, stubby man who had short hair and who looked strikingly similar to Makarov had appeared on the stairs, and Erza immediately deduced that it was the master of the house. "Welcome, Fairy Tail wizards, to my house. I am truly grateful that you decided to take my job request and I promise that you will be paid fully for your services. Now, let me explain the job details to you while we enjoy a warm cup of tea." He greeted them.

_ End_

**A/N:** The end guys. I made it a bit longer than Chapter 1, and I feel like I captured what I wanted to with this chapter, that is the blooming relationship between Natsu and Erza. What do you guys think? Please read and review.


	3. In the Woods

**A/N: **Chapter 3 is finally done. I debated for a while about whether to post this chapter or not this week, but I decided to post it since if I delay any further I'll become too lazy and I will lose motivation to update my chapters. This chapter will be a bit longer than chapter 3 thanks to the review of Aravind, so I'll try to make it more than 200 words this time. Here goes!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters, even Natsu and Erza. They all belong to Hiro Mashima.

_In the Woods_

Erza took a sip from her cup of tea, while looking intently at the client. The tea itself was really pleasant, so she took her time while drinking it, knowing that if she finished it too quickly, she would be tempted to ask for another cup. Looking around at the table, she was dejected that there was no cake to go with the tea. She loved cake almost as much as her guild, so she thought that she would have at least a piece before she left for the job with Natsu. "Oh well, I guess that would be asking for too much," she thought to herself.

"Hey, old man! Why is there no cake here?" a voice suddenly spoke up. Erza almost choked on her cup and she looked at the source of the voice, which she recognized all too well. Natsu had settled into the couch she was in, although he was not exactly seated on it. He was on the head rest of the couch, his arms over his legs and in one hand was the tea. "Natsu! What are you asking? This is our client, show some more respect!" Erza scolded him. To her surprise, however, Natsu smiled at her and replied, "It's okay Erza! I know how much you like cake, so I wanted you to at least have a bite before we went." Erza could not suppress the blush that creeped up onto her cheeks. "He's surprisingly observant. I didn't think he would consider something small like that for my sake," she thought to herself again. Erza then suddenly realized that Natsu had noticed the dejected look on her face earlier when she noticed there was no cake on the table.

To Erza's further surprise, the client let out a hearty laugh from the other side of the table. "Oh dear me, where are my manners? I forgot its courtesy to serve afternoon tea with cake. Manami, come here." Manami appeared in the room where the trio were. "You called for me, master?" "Yes," he continued, "I would like you to get a cake for us to enjoy." "Very well. What kind of cake would you desire to be brought?" Manami inquired. At this point the client turned on Erza and Natsu and asked them, "What kind of cake would you like to be brought?" Erza suddenly spoke up, faster than she had intended, "A strawberry cake please!" Natsu noticed this change in tone and let out a chuckle, causing the red that had appeared earlier on Erza's face to reappear. The client also chuckled, and told Manami to bring one of the strawberry cakes which was in the store. Within a few minutes the cake had been placed on the table, and Erza beamed at its sight, before proceeding to partake of it. The taste was as always, heavenly.

Suddenly, the voice of the client brought her back to her senses. It was a bit more serious, "Now then, since you two are both comfortable, why don't we get to business?" Natsu slid down from the top of the couch and moved nearer to where Erza was, causing her so squirm uncomfortably. "Too close," she thought. Natsu, as oblivious as ever, didn't notice the slight change in Erza's behavior. The client seemed not to have noticed either. "My name is Mr. Shoma. The reason I requested the two of you here today was to ask for your assistance in rescuing my son. He was kidnapped two days ago, and the police haven't had any luck in finding him. That's why I decided to turn to a magic guild. Luckily enough Fairy Tail is the nearest guild here, so that wasn't too difficult."

At this point, Erza decided to speak up, "I'm glad you decided to come to us for help, Mr Shoma. We will do our best to help locate your missing son. However, we would like to hear more about the details of how he disappeared. What exactly happened?" Shoma looked at Erza serenely then answered, "He was coming home from the forest outside Magnolia, from playing with his friends in the evening. They said their goodbyes as they were entering the city, then he decided to head to the market to buy some fruits, and he managed to buy apples, a whole lot of them. But then as he was coming home, a shadowed figure appeared in front of him. He didn't even have time to say anything. It just swept across the street towards him, and took him and they both disappeared in a wisp of smoke." Natsu finally spoke up, having not said anything for a while now, "How did you know that all this happened?" Shoma answered, "Well, my neighbor was airing her clothes in the evening from her window when she saw my son, Oma, walking towards our house. She was about to call out to him, but then she saw the shadowed figure, and closed her window slightly since she knew that something wasn't right. From the closed space she saw the shadowed figure whisk away Oma then disappear. She let out a little scream and immediately came to report it to me. I was shocked at first, so I decided to head to the local police to inform them about what I had just seen. They carried out a search the whole night within the area, but couldn't even find a sign of Oma. So they decided that what my neighbor had said must have really happened."

Erza and Natsu took in all that was saying, and after a few moments of silence after he had finished explaining the situation, Erza inquired again, "Mr. Shoma, do you have any idea why your son would be wanted by anyone, or your family in that case?" Shoma replied, "My wife died a year ago, so it's just me and Oma." Erza let out a small gasp and said, "I'm sorry," but Shoma held out a hand to quiet her, "It's okay, really. I got over it a while ago. I don't see why they would target my son. However, there was a note where Oma disappeared." He proceeded to take out a piece of paper from his pocket and stretch it out across the table. Erza made to grab it first, but Natsu was faster than her. He opened the piece of paper and Shoms continued, "As you can see, the paper says that they want a ransom of 1 billion jewels, or else my son's life is forfeit. They also demanded that the ransom should be ready within a week." Natsu took in the contents of the paper, and then proceeded to pass it to Erza, who also went through it in the same fashion. However, her eyes stopped when she reached the bottom line of the paper.

"Mr. Shoma, did you see this last part? The word Myria is written on the paper. Do you know what "Myria" means?"Erza asked. Shoma just shook his head in denial and Erza replied, "I see, so you don't know either." She then turned to Natsu. "Natsu, have you heard the word Myria anywhere else?" To her surprise, Natsu nodded. "Yeah, I heard Mira and the old man talk about it in the guild the other day. I don't really remember the details but I remember Gramps saying that it was a new organization that had cropped up recently and was carrying out a lot of miscallenous activities. Nothing much really. What else don't I know about them?" Natsu asked Erza, turning to face her. "Well, for the past week I've felt a strange magical energy around Fiore like nothing I've never felt before. Surely enough it doesn't belong here. Then from a bit of research on my own with the master and Mira, we found out that the organization's name was Myria. However, no one really knows what they look like since they always move around in cloaks. I think the person who kidnapped your son is a member of this organization," Erza explained to Shoma, now looking at him in the eye.

Shoma opened his eyes in surprise, clearly dumbfounded by what Erza had just explained to him. At a loss for words, he simply stared at the duo. Erza then proceeded, "I think the reason they kidnapped your son was to extort money from you. They seem to have a need for money to carry out their activities, whatever they are anyway." Shoma then said, albeit in a shaky voice, "But, why me? Why my son?" Erza replied again, "Well, if you haven't noticed, you're one of the wealthiest people in this kingdom," Shoma flushed a little at this," so it would be easier to extort money from you. If my perception is correct, I think you're not the only one who has been affected by the group. Natsu, weren't Gray and Juvia on a mission to rescue a kidnapped girl too? In Galuna Island?" Erza asked Natsu. Natsu replied, "Now that you mention it, I heard Gray speak about how he didn't really want to look for missing brats, but he needed the money so he really had no choice. Juvia tagged along with him saying she would go with Gray wherever he went." Erza chuckled a little at this, realizing that that was how Juvia would obviously react. "Well, then I think that there's more to this than a simple rescue mission. Mr Shoma, I think you placed just the right amount of money on this job," Erza told him.

"Then, will you accept the job?" He asked the two, unsure about their decision at this point in time. The situation really had fallen into critical hands. Natsu suddenly stood up and punched his hand, holding the fist. "Are you kidding me? Hell Yeah we are taking this job! After all, if this Myro or whatever-""It's Myria, Natsu," Erza corrected him in the middle of laughter, "–is indeed the ones pulling the strings, I hope they are strong. I've been itching for a good fight for a while now. Oh, and we'll definitely rescue your son while we're at it, Occhan!" Natsu boomed, shooting a smile at Shoma. Shoma almost cried, then he lowered his head to the ground, clearly surprising both Natsu and Erza. "Thank you very much! I'll never forget this debt!" Erza stood up and moved towards him, patting him on the back. "Don't worry about it. It's what guilds like ours usually do. And we'll definitely bring your son back, just like this idiot over here says," she pointed at Natsu, who was still standing at the same position.

"Yosh! Now that everything is settled, let's leave immediately. We don't want to head out when it's too dark do we now, Erza?" Natsu headed towards the door. Erza got up from the ground. "Yeah, you're right. We best leave before the sun sets. Well then, Mr Shoma, we'll be heading off now. We'll come back when we have your son with us." Erza then headed to the door too and followed after Natsu, but before she left completely she saw Manami's face creeping up from behind a wall. She was drooling a little at the mouth, and Erza realized that she must have been ogling at Natsu the whole time. "That bitch," she thought to herself. "Wait, did I just call her a bitch?" she thought again. Wondering why she would think of calling another girl that just because she was looking at Natsu more intently than was allowed, Natsu's voice drew her out of her thoughts, "Oi, Erza, hurry up!" Closing the door behind her, she replied, "Coming, Natsu! You know you should really learn how to control your patience, one of these days you'll get in trouble for not being patient enough." Natsu smirked at her, "Yeah right, I think you're about the only person who could land me in trouble for something like that." Tugging his scarf from behind and causing him to lose his balance, "And I just did," she looked down at him from where he was sprawled on the ground, rolling out her tongue at him. "I'll get you for this, Erza Scarlet, "Natsu replied, getting back on his feet, and proceeding to grab for her, but she was too fast for him. "Not today, Natsu Dragneel. Now you made me call you by your two names too. Baka." She grunted under her breath. Natsu just smiled, "I think I just did."

Erza smiled too, but then Natsu asked her, "So, where will we head from here? Where should we look first?" Erza looked at the road leading out of the city for a while, before saying, "Why don't we try where he was playing with his friends? In the Woods?" Natsu nodded," Yeah, that would be a good lead," then the duo proceeded to head towards the forest outside Magnolia.

_End_

**A/N: **Well, that went really well. I didn't expect that much conversation in this chapter, but I guess it helped to move the story further, plus I managed to introduce the Myria here, who will be the main antagonists in my story. Look forward to learning more about them in the following chapters ;) And thanks a lot for all the reviews, favorites and follows. I didn't expect to be added into a community so soon, so a special thanks to the admin of the NaZa community(I didn't even know such a community existed, so I'm really privileged to be a a member here. NAZA!


	4. First Encounter

**A/N:** Thanks for the wait guys. Here's chapter 4, after a plain Christmas and Boxing Day I was able to get inspiration for what to have in this chapter, so I guarantee it will be definitely better than Chapter 3. I hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas and that you will continue reading and enjoying my story. Thanks a lot for all the follows, reviews and favorites. NAZA is amazing!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. They belong to Hiro Mashima-sensei.

_First Encounter_

_ Near the Shores of Galuna Island_

Gray Fullbuster continued to row the boat he and his partner were on, an activity he had been doing for the past two hours. He was getting a little exhausted, however, although he didn't feel like stopping anytime soon, since he knew that they had almost arrived at the destination where they had received the job request. Looking behind him, he spotted the silhouette of an island in the distant horizon, and a smile formed on his now sweaty face. The weather itself was unbearably hot, so he was shirtless and beads of sweat appeared on his well-toned torso.

On the opposite side of the boat, lay Juvia Lockser. She was sprawled on the deck of the boat, the heat having taken a more sever toll on her than on Gray. Since her body was practically water, she could easily get dehydrated in the scorching heat, plus an activity that required a considerable amount of physical strength, such as boat-rowing, would only aid in exhausting her faster. Gray had managed to make an ice shade for her, his ice did have the uncanny ability not to be melted by the sun's rays, and he offered to row the boat, taking into account her weaknesses. Juvia then looked at Gray, before bowing apologetically after managing to sit up, but remaining in the range of the shadow created by Gray's ice. This caught Gray by surprise.

"What are you making that face for?" He asked her, still rowing the boat. Juvia looked up from her position into Gray's handsome face, which caused her face to redden a bit. However, she managed to recollect herself again, before replying, "I'm sorry, Gray-sama. This is my entire fault. If I wasn't so affected by the heat I would have definitely helped in rowing the boat. Sorry I can't be of much help in this situation," she concluded, with a saddened tone in her voice. Silence enveloped the duo for a bit before Gray scoffed, breaking the stillness. Now it was Juvia's turn to be surprised. "What are you talking about? I don't mind doing this job you know. Besides if you did row and get exhausted, what would happen if we reached our client and you were in no shape to do anything? Don't be too hard on yourself, Juvia," Juvia's heart fluttered a little at the mention of her name from Gray's mouth, "your strength is vital in this mission, so rest up and conserve your energy," he finished in a hearty tone. Juvia beamed at the words, before nodding and resuming her earlier position. Gray smiled a little, and he was a little grateful that Juvia was more cooperative than normal today. Normally she would have used such an opportunity to latch onto her "Gray-sama", so today proving different was a breather for Gray.

The two of them had received a job request from the chief of Galuna Island. It had been quite some time before Fairy Tail had heard from this specific client, so Gray was as surprised as the rest of the guild was. Deciding that the situation may have been serious as what happened with Lyon in the past, Gray decided to handle the job, since he already had some degree of familiarity with the clients. Apparently, the residents of the island were being attacked by what they described as a "bear-like" creature, which maimed them on specific nights and also kidnapped a young demon girl, since they were revealed to be missing in the mornings after each attack. The attacks had been going on for a week, and Gray found it odd that someone decided to attack the demons in their own home. Team Erza itself had been surprised at first when they found out the true nature of the demons, so they thought others would stay away from the island now that its true form was always on for everyone to see. Apparently not everyone was surprised, or so it seemed.

Juvia managed to hoodwink Gray into tagging along with her by requesting him in the presence of Mira. The two girls had formed a really close bond during Juvia's stay in Fairy Tail, so Mira edged on Gray to tag Juvia along, saying it wouldn't hurt to have her at least tag along him for a change. Since Juvia joined Fairy Tail, she always tried to go on a job with Gray, owing to the fact that he spent most of his time with Team Natsu. The few times he was alone he always made sure not to tell Juvia when he was heading out for his jobs, resuming in the evening or a few days later clearly exhausted and bruised. Juvia seemed to notice this, although she didn't mind much, since as long as Gray was okay she really didn't mind not being taken along on his jobs. This time, however, she wanted to come along with him, since the job itself looked difficult and she didn't know how long he would be gone, not wanting to spend a lot of time without him in the guild.

Juvia perked a little as they approached the island. Getting up quickly, she rushed towards the edge of the boat and looked into the sea. This startled Gray a little, so he asked Juvia, "What is it?" Juvia, however, continued to stare into the water, in which ripples had started forming and the water was now moving at a faster speed than the stillness which it held before. An expression of shock appeared on Juvia's face, and she looked at Gray a little before telling him, in a louder voice than she had ever spoken to him before, "Gray-sama, there's a storm coming this way." Gray looked into the sky, and surely enough a bunch of nimbus clouds had gathered into the sky above them, blocking out the sun that was there only mere moments ago, and causing the temperature to suddenly drop. This change in temperature had suddenly caused Juvia to become rejuvenated, and no sooner had Gray looked away from the sky than a bolt of lightning hit the boat, a few meters away from where Juvia and Gray both sat.

Water began filling up the boat rapidly, aided by how fast it was moving in the sea below them. Juvia held her hands across her mouth, clearly panicking, but not without good reason. The most obvious answer was to turn into water herself and carry Gray towards the island in her, but if the lightning did hit her as she was en route to the island, she would definitely be in dire straits. Gray seemed to have noticed this too, since due to his quick thinking, he clasped his hands together and shouted, "Ice Make: Floor!" No sooner had the words left his mouth than the sea beneath them froze instantly, stretching for miles before reaching the Island's shore. Holding out his hand to Juvia, he told her, "Let's go."

Juvia quickly took his hand and left the boat, which proved to be a good decision, since a bolt of lightning immediately hit the boat after her last foot had set off it, effectively sinking it. She stared at the boat for a few minutes, before Gray forcefully pulled her towards the direction he was walking in, cutting out her thoughts. Juvia then realized that Gray was holding her hand, and butterflies started forming in her stomach, and she tightened her grip on Gray's hand. Gray didn't seem to notice this, since the pace in his strides didn't change. _At least something good came out of the ordeal,_ Juvia thought to herself.

Within half an hour the duo had arrived at the island shore, braving the cold weather and the frequent bolts of lightning that hit the ice at particular segments. However, Gray managed to immediately restore the damaged segments, and a light shower had appeared to drench the two completely. They made it successfully however, and to Gray's chagrin, the Chief was not at the shore awaiting their arrival. He realized that the two had to walk until his building, which was strategically placed at the centre of the island. Gray released Juvia's hand (much to her dismay) and the two immediately set off to the Chief, who happened to be the client to the mission.

They did not walk for long however, before Gray heard someone call out his name in the distance. Taken aback, he stopped and tried to look for the direction in which the voice had come from. Juvia, who was also made to stop because of the sudden voice, tried to locate where the sound was coming from. After noticing that it came west from where they were, she told Gray," Gray-sama, over there, "pointing at a running figure of a person. The figure kept on approaching them, and when it was within recognizable distance, Juvia scowled a bit. It was a female demon. Gray almost said, "Lu-"but suddenly he was cut off by a pair of arms wrapping themselves around his neck.

Lulu had hugged Gray so tightly that he almost lost his balance, but managed to regain it after staggering a few steps backwards. Juvia was seething behind him, which Lulu seemed to notice since she just rolled out her tongue at Juvia. "Lulu, it's so great to see you again. I hope you've been okay despite the recent events," Gray greeted her. Placing herself on the ground, she looked up at Gray (who had grown even taller in the short time they were apart) and smiled at him before replying, "It's so good to see you again, Gray," _Who is this woman? Why does she not address Gray-sama with the proper honorifics? _Juvia thought after hearing her call him "Gray"-"I've been good but not so much during the past one week. The girl who was kidnapped was the little sister of my best friend Miya, so she's been devastated over the past one week. I've been doing my best to console her, but to not avail, since her mood hasn't really improved. I'm really glad you could come though, I'm sure you'll rescue her little sister in no time with you partner, " she finished, now casting a look over at Juvia, who seemed to be staring daggers at her.

"OH, I almost forgot to introduce you. Lulu this is Juvia Lockser, she's my comrade and friend at Fairy Tail. Juvia this is Lulu. She's an acquaintance I met here in Galuna and she was very hospitable to me, Natsu and the others on the last night we spent here. And she's a very remarkable dancer," Gray added. The last sentence made Juvia scowl even more. _Hmph. How dare this woman dance with Gray-sama. The nerve_, he thoughts continued to grow more and more disdainful towards the woman, but she didn't say anything, since she didn't want to create a scene in front of Gray. She even reluctantly held out her hand to shake Lulu's already outstretched hand. Lulu's face was in some sort of smile that told Juvia she was enjoying the current situation.

After the brief introduction, Gray spike up again, "Lulu, would you mind taking us to the Chief's building. I have a rough idea where it used to be, but I don't want to make any mistakes and with you here I feel we will definitely get there faster." Lulu beamed at these words, and replied almost immediately, "Yes, of course," before holding Gray by his hand and leading him in the right direction. Juvia shouted," Hey! Don't forget about me here!" and started following the two. Gray, who seemed amused by the sudden gesture, didn't say anything and allowed himself to be led on. Lulu, who was humming a song to herself as she led the way, was elated. Having developed a crush on the handsome man whose hand she held in her own, she yearned for the day when she would meet him again. The heavens had answered her prayers, she thought, since he was now here again. She silently thanked Kami-sama and held on tightly to Gray's hand, which she felt, was big and strong.

However, something extraordinary happened almost immediately, just as the trio had walked a short distance ahead. Juvia and Gray turned their heads towards the sea, and saw, with great amazement, that the sea was completely frozen. Juvia looked at Gray, who indignantly replied, "It wasn't me." Gray then looked around to see if there was anyone else around other than them. There were a few villagers scattered around the beach, each of them carrying out their own activities. Lulu also looked positively scared at this point, she couldn't believe that the village had been locked out of the outside world. Gray and Juvia, of course, could leave anytime they wanted, but the other villagers could not. This was a grave problem. Gray remembered that none of the villagers could use Ice Make Magic like him, so he eliminated the idea of one of the villagers near the sea having frozen the sea to that extent. He himself had dispelled his Ice trail immediately he and Juvia had arrived at the shore, so he was definitely out of the question. Who was it that could perform such a feat, and go undetected by both him and Juvia?

Then suddenly, without warning, a second extraordinary feat occurred. The air around the shore began to crystallize, forming what seemed to be a wall. More and more air crystallized, and immediately Gray let go of Lulu's hand to rush towards the shore, but he was a few steps too late. The wall itself continued to become bigger and stretched out more and more into the sky, until eventually the whole island was encased in a dome of ice. Gray smashed his fist against the end of the shore he had reached, but it was futile. Staring into the depths of the sky, which was blocked out of view by the ice there, a harsh reality dawned upon him and Juvia, who had just appeared next to him to calm him down. The island had been effectively shut out of the outside world, with Gray and Juvia inside it.

_End_

**A/N: **There's chapter 4 guys. I originally decided to include Natsu and Erza in it, but then decided against it since it would kind of ruin the cliffhanger I had concluded with. Plus it was a good chance to show the other couples which I had promised would be in the story that is Gray and Juvia. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Have a belated Happy Christmas and enjoy! Thanks again for all your continued support;)


	5. Attack of the Myria

**A/N: **Here I am again, after a really exhausting day and holiday in general. My head is aching a little but I will be able to make this chapter enjoyable for all my followers. Natsu and Erza will be back in this chapter, plus Gray and Juvia, so sit back and enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. They are thesole property of Hiro Mashima.

_ Attack of the Myria_

_ Galuna Island_

"Damn. It." Gray muttered under his breath. He had punched the ice barrier at several spots, for what seemed to be the umpteenth time, but the dome just remained there as it was when it had first appeared. It still stood firm and steady, with no sign of cracking yet. Lowering his fist from the edge of the barrier where he was, he let himself slump to the ground in defeat. His hands were almost exhausted and looking at them closer; he noticed there were pieces of flesh tearing off at the knuckles. "Just what is this ice anyway?" He asked no one in particular. At first he had thought that he may have mistaken the substance surrounding them for diamond, owing to its toughness, but the cold temperature that was within the village begged to differ. Diamond never made substances go cold, it was ice. He closed his eyes as if in slumber, but then heard footsteps approaching him, so his eyes jolted open and he looked to the direction where the footsteps were coming from.

"Oh, it's you Lulu," he spoke to the girl who had know kneeled in front of him, so that their faces were now level. She was carrying a bottle in her hands that held some sort of colorless liquid. "What's that you got there?" he asked, pointing to the bottle she held in her hands. Immediately, however, he returned his hand in the original position on the ground, wincing in pain a little. Without answering his question, Lulu picked up his hand which lay helplessly on his side (earning another wince from Gray), opened the bottle containing the strange liquid and poured it on his reddened knuckles, then proceeded to rub it on the sore area.

Immediately, Gray felt the pain recede in his knuckles, and it was replaced by a warm soothing feeling. "This is a local ointment made from the herbs in the village. It isn't really that effective when it comes to severe wounds, but something like this can be taken care of easily by the ointment," Lulu finally replied to Gray's question earlier. She looked at his face and smiled, earning a smile back, "Thanks for this, Lulu," Gray told her. Lulu immediately blushed and looked at the now almost fully recovered hand more intensely than normal, returning to her earlier role. After she moved to the second palm, Gray looked over his shoulder at his teammate.

Juvia was standing a few feet away; her hands folded across her chest, and seemed to be lost in thought. Too lost in thought, it seemed, since Gray called her three times before she finally caught on. "Yes! Gray-sama?" Gray shrugged a little (causing Juvia to feel hot around the ears), before asking, "Did you figure out something?" Juvia shook her head, before saying, "This doesn't feel like ordinary magic. If it were I think you would have broken through it a while ago using your Ice Magic. Magic at this level may require us to find the caster and defeat him or ask him to undo the spell. I don't think he did this accidentally though." Gray took in every word Juviia said, before adding on," You do have a point. And my guess is that the caster is somewhere on the island, so we have to look for him manually, unless you can sense where he is?" Juvia shook her head again. "He seems to have erased his magic signal. No doubt he did it immediately we set foot in the island. He may have expected us to come."

Gray, whose hands had recovered, stood up and shook the sand off his body. "Thanks again, Lulu," he looked at the girl who also steadied herself upright, but to her dismay, she was shorter when both of them stood upright. "Unfortunately, though, I need another favour from you. " Lulu beamed at these words, eager to be of any service to the man who stood in front of her. "What is it, Gray-sama?" she inquired. Gray proceeded to ask her, "If possible, can you inform me of the place where Deliora crumbled to pieces? That place is kind of sacred to me. It's where my master, Ul's memento is."

Juvia, who had approached Gray, upon seeing him standing upright, immediately knew what Gray was referring to. Although she was not in the guild at the time, she had been told by some of the guild mates about the S-class mission that Gray and his team had gone to do in Galuna, and remembered being informed about how the major antagonist Lyon, was a sibling apprentice of Gray, who also studied under their master Ul. Lyon was trying to revive the demon from Zeref's book, Deliora, which Ul had fought to save the two when they were kids, and being unable to defeat it, opted to seal it away using her body as the medium. Lyonhad successfully manage to unseal the demon, although it crumbled away minutes later, flowing into the sea as water alongside Ul's ice. Even though it seemed like a mundane thing, Gray treasured the place where the demon had melted away as Ul's final resting place, hence referring to it as "Ul's memento."

Lulu replied, "Ahh, that place is just in the mountains over there." She pointed at an icy summit that stood far away above the trees, and Gray nodded. He thanked her again and promised to see her when he got back from his visit there. She waved him goodbye cheerfully as he set off for the mountains, beckoning for Juvia to follow him. Once they were out of Lulu's hearing range, Juvia broke the silence, "Um, Gray-sama? I understand your desire to see your master's last memento but what about the job we came here to do? Plus the fact that we are trapped in this island with no means of escape." She expected Gray to scold her for this, but to her surprise, he turned to face her, still grinning."Ah, I had a feeling you would say that. But it's really not something to fret over." Raising an eyebrow, Juvia was about to ask why, but Gray continued, "You see, I have a feeling that whoever did this to the island may be the person who has abducted the girl we are looking for in this job. So we can use this chance as we are heading to the mountains to look for the one responsible. Plus I have a feeling if we stayed there with Lulu the assailant may have attacked us there, and I didn't want to put Lulu or the villagers in danger. You get where I'm coming from, right?"

Clearly amazed by how Gray had thought things through, Juvia could not help but smile at him. He really was amazing. "Yes, Gray-sama!" She replied almost instantaneously, but soon realized how fast she had said this, causing her to turn red in embarrassment. Gray did not seem to realize this, however, as he had resumed walking in front of Juvia at an unnaturally faster pace than he was walking at earlier.

Juvia was puzzled, and made to follow Gray, but he immediately held up his hand, stopping in his tracks. Juvia also stopped in her tracks, and waited for some sort of signal so as to know what to proceed to next. Gray pointed towards the forest in the east side of the village, and looked to see if Juvia had understood what he was trying to tell her. Surely enough she had, since she had began to head in that direction. Satisfied with his decision, Gray marched on towards the mountain, intent on heading to his master's memento while looking for the assailant. Juvia headed to the forest to search for the assailant there. The words had gone unspoken between the two, but from the moment they had been shut in the island, they knew this was inevitable. They had to split up in order to look for the culprit, in the efforts of rescuing the kidnapped girl and freeing themselves from the "prison" in which they had been trapped. Silently praying for each other's safety, they marched off to their respective destinations.

As Gray neared the mountain with each step, he immediately plunged himself into a sea of thought. _But something doesn't feel right here. What kind of an enemy are we facing anyway? Making all that ice in itself is an amazing deed, but managing to escape detection by Juvia is indeed extraordinary. She was one of the Element Four, so I'm sure her sensory skills must be extraordinary_. _And that ice itself. How is it unbreakable? This is honestly making no sense, but I have a feeling the foe we are facing may be exceptionally strong._ The thoughts ran through his mind endlessly, all coming to no fruitful answer or conclusion. However, his thoughts suddenly froze, as a result of the silhouette that rapidly approached him from a distance away.

Juvia, on the other hand, already had her share of bad luck come early to her. She was in the middle of the forest, and had also frozen in her tracks, also a result of what lay in front of her. It was the man she loved and doted over, in the flesh and shirtless. That black hair, those dark eyes, that muscular frame. There was no mistaking it.

" Gray-sama?" she feebly called out to the man standing in front of her. However, "Gray" simply placed his hands together, in a stance Juvia knew all too well was an offensive stance, and readied his attack. Juvia was utterly shocked, and she had no time to dodge, feeling the familiar coldness enveloping her body.

"Ul?" Gray called out to the silhouette, which had now reached where he was standing. There was no mistaking it. It was his deceased master, standing in the flesh in front of him. The familiar onyx eyes and hair were strikingly similar to his master, and he had an immediate desire to rush to her and embrace her, with all sorts of things to tell her. "Ul" however, did not feel the same way, evident in the way she held out her arms in front of her in the stance Gray recognized as the way she taught him to mould ice. Her mouth broke out into a sinister grain, and suddenly a huge wave of ice made its way to where he was standing.

_The Woods outside Magnolia_

"I'm beat." Natsu Dragneel was walking at a considerably slower pace than the pace he had as he entered the woods. His tongue was hanging loosely outside his mouth, in a plea for water, and sweat dripped across his whole face. He was clearly hungry and thirsty as well, and to top that he was exhausted, owing to the fact that he had seemed to walk endlessly.

"That's the fourth time you've said that today." A scarlet haired woman said from in front of him. Natsu looked up at the form of his partner, Erza Scarlet, who unlike him was standing upright, and looked just as she had when they had entered the woods. In contrast to him, she did not have any sweat dripping down her visage, and did not seem to be the least hungry or thirsty.

"How…come…you're still…kicking and fresh?" Natsu asked her, between huge breaths of air. True enough he was a Dragon Slayer, and his lungs were indeed larger than those of ordinary mages, but he had reached his limit. Erza shook her head and simply replied, "You know, I've been to places much farther than this on my S-class missions, so a distance as short as this is like child's play to me. I can still go a few more hundred miles you know," she concluded, with a small smile at Natsu. Natsu smiled feebly at her, but felt the strength drain from his legs, so he slumped to the ground and began panting. "You must be really amazing then Erza, I can't even imagine what being an S-class is like now. Are all your jobs that taxing?" He threw a glance at her.

Erza, who realized that Natsu was probably too tired to move, proceeded to settle into the grass that was just below her feet. "Yeah, they are pretty much this difficult. That's why master always encourages us to build our stamina if we want to partake such jobs." However, what really made her happy, was the compliment that Natsu threw her earlier, about her being "amazing." For some odd reason, it made her heart flutter, and she thought of mumbling a thank you to Natsu, but the words seemed to be stuck in her throat.

Natsu continued looking at Erza from the position he was on the ground, and realized that she was still in her Heart Kruz Armor, but had not even broken a sweat yet. Perplexed as to why she would still even have her armor in this scorching weather, he asked her why she was always dressed like that. Erza was caught by surprise at this sudden inquiry, and remembered only a few months ago that during the pink-head's fight with Jellal, he told her that he did not know anything about her.

She replied," When I was young, I was held captive as a slave. That was where I met Jellal, Sho, Simon, Miriana and Jellal. One day we tried to escape but we were unsuccessful. A guard used some magic and tried to eliminate me, on realizing that I was the leader of the riot. However, an old man whom I grew fond of came in the way of the attack and died saving me." Natsu noticed that tears were slowly welling up in Erza's eyes. He suggested that it was okay if she didn't want to talk about it, but she shook her head, a sign indicating that she wanted to talk more about the matter.

"I was then captured and kept in a secret room. My right eye was removed as a punishment. Jellal came to save me and as he was saving me, Simon and Sho were taking watch outside. The rescue was successful. This time we tried escaping again, although we were caught. Jellal sacrificed himself and admitted that he was the one who planned the escape. He was kept in the same room as me. That was when Zeref brainwashed him."

Natsu looked at Erza and he felt sad. He still had the memory of Erza's tears freshly ingrained in his mind the day she met Jellal again. And here she was crying again. Out of instinct (and something else which he did not know was), he picked himself off the ground (most of his fatigue having receded) and approached the tear-stricken Erza. He slowly wrapped his arms around her and held her in a tight hug, making sure not to crush her under his weight.

Erza, who still had tears in her eyes, was quite surprised at this sudden display of affection. She had never imagined Natsu holding her like that. After a few minutes of nothing but silence between the two, Natsu spoke in her ear (unknowingly sending chills of excitement down Erza's spine), "And I always thought my childhood was shitty." Erza giggled a bit at this statement, and Natsu continued, "Look, Erza, I don't know how painful it was, but I can tell you this. That's all in your past now. You should look towards the future. After all, you have friends now. Lucy, Gray, Elfman, Mira… even me. We'll always be with you. So, promise me, you'll never shed a tear about this again, okay? You're the strongest person I've ever met. If you start to soften up now, what do you think I will do? Okay?" he concluded in a heart tone, now flashing his famous grin at her.

Natsu then released her. Erza had stopped crying. She smiled and then replied, in a much happier tone, "Okay." However, suddenly noticing how the atmosphere had suddenly dimmed around them, they decided to make camp around there for the night. Luckily enough, there was a stream nearby so it would be an ideal place for them to set up camp.

_ End_

**A/N:** Well, that escalated well I'm happy that the scene with Natsu and Erza went well as I had planned it in my head, so I hope you guys will like it too. Read, enjoy and make sure to review at the end!


	6. Temptations

**A/N: **Here is Chapter 6 of "The Dragon Slayer and the Knightess." In this chapter I'll introduce two familiar faces that you are all aware of. Natsu and Erza will also make an appearance here, actually they will be more of the focus in this chapter, and the events from the previous evening are still fresh in Erza's mind. How will she react to Natsu with it being a new day and him being the airhead he always was? Read more to find out ;)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. They are the sole property of Hiro Mashima.

_Temptations_

Erza's eyes shot open to find the back of her partner facing her facing her. She was a bit startled to be greeted by such a sight in the morning, but she registered that he must have chosen to fall asleep next to her. She couldn't think of a logical reason why, since if it was a simple matter of body heat he wasn't really in a pinch, given the fact he was a Fire Dragon Slayer. The events of the previous night slowly resurfaced in Erza's mind, and her cheeks turned a faint shade of scarlet. It matched perfectly with the color of her hair, so anyone who saw her at that moment would think she had decided to put on makeup matching the color of her hair. Natsu would probably tell her that there was something red on her cheeks, being the airhead he was. She actually let out a small laugh at that thought.

The pink-headed make in question was still asleep, and he slowly turned in his sleep to come face to face with the blushing queen next to him. His face was mere inches away from hers, and his eyes were still closed. Erza was taken by surprise at this gesture, since she didn't expect to be so close to him. Looking at the young man's sleeping form; she couldn't help but marvel at how cute he looked. Like a baby, he slept so peacefully. His hair was matted out at the ends and Erza felt a sudden desire to feel his hair in his hands. Sure they had been in similar situations when they were kids, alongside Gray, but Erza didn't really take the time to study Natsu's features like this. She was too absorbed in the fun of playing with her friends that she was even a bit angry at herself. How could she miss his extremely gorgeous looks, being with him in the same guild every day?

Her eyes slowly travelled down his face, calmly taking in his angelic face, when she landed upon it. His mouth was slightly closed, his lips parted slightly. He did not make any sounds, which Erza was grateful for. She had heard the stories from Mira about how Elfman would snore in his sleep, and how Lisanna would always complain about lacking sleep in the morning, so she could almost sympathize with how the girl was feeling at the moment. He also didn't seem to be mumbling any words in his sleep, so Erza also gave him a pass for not being a sleeptalker. Staring at his mouth for a few seconds longer, she immediately wondered what it would be like to taste his lips.

At this thought Erza's whole face turned a deep shade of red, and she actually had to turn the other way to cut off her stream of thoughts. She cupped her face in her hands so that no one would catch sight of her. _What did I just think? I just thought of k-k-kis- _Her mind could not complete the forbidden word. Having such thoughts about her longtime friend and teammate was not allowed. Erza tried to shake the thoughts out of her head, which proved a few minutes later, to be a pointless effort. Slowly, her head slowly turned in the direction where her heart's desire lay, and she caught herself staring at Natsu's mouth, wondering what taste she would savor if she made an attempt to move closer.

The scarlet haired woman then started moving closer to Natsu, her lips inching to his closer and closer with every second. She wagered on the fact that he was still asleep, and that he probably wouldn't wake from something like this. My God, he was too damn sexy. _Wait. Did I just say sexy? _Erza's thoughts momentarily terrified her but did not assist any way in ceasing her movement. _I'd better stop talking to Lucy about stuff like this. _She made a mental note to no longer talk to Lucy about what the blonde deemed as "girl talk" when she returned from her job. She could now feel the boy's warm breath on her lips. Closing her eyes, she widened her lips a little….

"E-E-Erza?" A voice stirred in her ears. She quickly retreated her body away from his in a speed that even the leaves that had surrounded them moved slightly into the air. The boy was stirring a little, his eyes still partially closed. Meanwhile, a few feet away from him Erza had covered her face, which had turned red in shock and embarrassment. He had almost caught her in the act of kissing him in his sleeping form. Surely no one would appreciate it if anyone tried doing anything to them when they were sleeping, would they? Furthermore, she was dead sure that if Natsu had caught her in the act she would probably not be able to talk to him with the same ease that they had grown so used to. She was so convinced that he would definitely keep her at an arm's length if he found out.

"Erza, what are you doing? Why are you so far away?" Natsu inquired. He was now fully awake, in a sitting posture. Looking at Erza in a way that showed more of confusion rather than anger, Erza turned to meet his gaze. There were still bags under his eyes, and Erza couldn't blame him. They had slept for a really long time, having done so from the dusk of the previous day, and the sun was creeping up slowly from the east. Erza realized that the day had just started, and she was partially glad that they had not rested for too long. "Nothing. I just had a really scary dream, is all. It startled me so much that I nearly jumped out of my skin," Erza explained, hoping that the man would believe her completely-made-up-on-the-spot lie.

"Hmm, well I guess I can understand what you went through." Erza was so grateful that Natsu was a complete idiot in situations like this. "Still, I hope it wasn't too bad of a dream. Are you feeling better this morning?" He inquired. He could be such a darling sometimes, she thought. She smiled a little and nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm feeling great, Natsu. Thanks a lot for yesterday. It really helped." She replied in a jovial tone, feeling the red coloring on her cheeks disappearing with every word. He didn't need to see that at the moment, she reassured herself.

Natsu beamed at her, shooting her his famous grin that she had come to love so much over the long time she had known him, then he immediately got up from the ground. Erza was taken aback, and for one crazy second she thought that he was going to walk towards her to confirm is she was okay. She was relieved that he headed in the opposite way towards the woods. "I'm going to look for wood. We need to get something to eat, since I'm feeling a bit hungry and we haven't really eaten anything ever since we came from the city. Why don't you look in the stream if there are any fish that we can roast? I think that will hold our stomachs for a while on our journey," he suggested to Erza. Erza chuckled a little, and Natsu was a bit puzzled at this. He stopped momentarily in his tracks and looked at Erza a little. "You know it would save you the trouble of looking for wood if you would just use your fire to heat up the fish. Or it's too much trouble?" She calmly explained her thoughts to Natsu. Natsu replied, "I also thought about that, but I think it would use quite a bit of my magic. I want us to be at 100% when we meet the enemy, so I don't want me or you to use our magic for any other activities along the way. Besides," he was now smiling a little at her, "it gives me a chance to show off my cooking to you."

Erza did not have a chance to ask what he meant by this, since Natsu had darted farther into the woods. _Natsu can cook? _The sudden revelation was a bit too surprising for her to hear that morning. As far as she was concerned, he had never really shown any interest in cooking since he always ate from the guild hall or from Lucy's house. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she quickly rushed to the surface of the stream that was next to her, wishing that there were fish present there. She could not miss a chance to eat Natsu's cooking, knowing full well that if she was not successful they would have to eat berries or some of the fruits in the trees.

To her delight, there were a lot of fish swimming upstream and she wasted no time in lunging at them with her hands. She wavered between using her hands and swords for a moment, and remembering Natsu's earlier words, decided that using her hands would be better. She wasn't called an S-class wizard for nothing, her swift movement with her hands ensured that within a span of five minutes, she had successfully ensnared a dozen fish. Feeling pleased with herself, she made her way out of the stream and moved a distance away from the shore. Placing the fish on the ground, she felt her stomach rumbling a little and was actually glad that Natsu was nowhere nearby to hear that. She was getting hungrier and wished Natsu would get there faster.

After a few seconds however, she saw the familiar silhouette coming out of the woods, his pink hair moving softly on his head in the direction that the breeze was moving in. He was carrying a lot of wood, and Erza realized that he must have probably been unable to control himself and wrecked a certain area of the forest in search for wood. She sweat dropped a little at what the Mayor would say when he found out that Fairy Tail had destroyed part of Magnolia's nature. When he came within her eyes seeing distance, she noticed that he was shirtless and that beads of sweat had formed on his torso. His shirt was wrapped around his waist and the wood lay on his shoulders. Erza couldn't help but marvel at how his body was so well built, and couldn't help but stare at it in the time it took before he had reached where she was. She now had an idea about why Manami couldn't help but stare at Natsu's well-endowed body.

He almost always wore his shirt everywhere, so Erza only managed to catch glimpses of his six-pack at certain times. Now here he was, in all his glory, exposing his upper half of his body to her (unintentionally though), and she immediately wondered what it would be like to run her hands through the surface. Erza Scarlet turned a deep shade of scarlet for what was the umpteenth time of the day. She quickly managed to hide the blush by the time Natsu had reached where she was. Natsu sat on the ground next to her, oblivious of the troubled female that was next to him. He wasted no time in starting a fire, and a few minutes later, the two were savoring their first meal of the day. To both their delight, the fish turned out to be quite mouth-watering.

Natsu was on his fourth fish, when Erza spoke to him, currently on her third fish herself, "When did you learn to prepare such meals? I always took you to be the kind that always ate from the city, not in the wilds like we are now." Natsu took a bite out of the creature in his hands, swallowed then explained to Erza, "When I was with Igneel, he taught me all sorts of things. Cooking, language and even words. We used to live in a forested area, I can't really remember where it was, but in that forest there were quite a number of animals. For our meals Igneel would go into the forest and hunt some of the animals, and then he would come home and make me cook the animals he captured. It took a while but I learned how to roast wild game, and he told me that it wasn't really any different with fish. The trick was to apply the right amount of heat to avoid the animals from getting burnt, and retain the original flavor." Erza listened to Natsu with an odd keenness. She honestly did not take him to be the kind who did such activities, but then again, he lived in the wild so the circumstances allowed it.

"I don't really know how to cook normal food. Lisanna tried teaching me once when I was little, but I couldn't really get the hang of it, so I just decided not to bother with it anymore, "he added on. Erza then spoke up, "Well, I could teach you how to cook. I mean, if you're interested that is." Natsu nearly choked on the piece of fish that was in his mouth. He looked at Erza wide-eyed, a look which caused Erza to almost collapse to the floor laughing. _Honestly, he's too cute. _She thought to herself. Natsu blubbered a little, before finally making out the words, "You can cook? You? Erza?! How?!" He couldn't help but ask. Erza knew that he was speaking from experience, since as far as she remembered; she had never been caught cooking in the guild hall. At Fairy Hills, their meals were also prepared for them by their caretaker, so there was no need for her to prepare her meals herself there. "You know Natsu I'd wish you started to look at me as more of a woman. When I was young and I was here at the guild as a newbie, I stayed with Poryulsica-san a little while my eye was recovering. She taught me a few things, and she said that I was a good student, since I managed to grasp everything she taught me. I learnt cooking from her, but too bad I haven't really had much chance to do it on my own. I still remember everything about it though," she concluded with an air of pride in her voice.

Natsu Dragneel stared at Erza with a certain awe in his look. He certainly had not expected that Erza had knowledge of what normal girls would have. Then again, she was normal for a while so it was a given that she had adopted these skills. Slowly, the image he had in his head of Erza being a strong, armored warrior was breaking down, and it was being replaced by the image of a normal girl in an apron, at a kitchen somewhere in Magnolia and humming to herself as she turned the contents in her cooker. He smiled a little at the thought of how beautiful the sight was a smile that did not go unnoticed by Erza. She smiled to herself and was a bit happy that she was gaining favor in the eyes of her loved one. _Loved one?_

She did not have time to think about what had just transpired through her head, as Natsu got up from the ground in haste. He removed the shirt that lay on his waist, and wore it (much to Erza's dismay). Throwing back a look at Erza, he smiled gently at her before replying, "Sure, why not? You may turn out to be a better teacher than Lisanna was. But on one condition." Erza looked at him tentatively before asking him, although she had an idea about what the condition was. "Which is?" she slowly asked. "I refuse to call you master, sensei, shishou, or any of that crap," Natsu answered, smirking at her.

"Damn it. You're such a spoilsport," she remarked.

"That's part of the reason you like me so much," he shot back at her, throwing her another smirk.

He did not notice the faint blush that adorned Erza Scarlet's cheeks that fair morning.

After the two had cleared out their camping area, they set off farther into the woods, the air around them having a certain brightness to it.

_Apocrypha_

Lucy HeartFilia and Levy McGarden had just alighted from the train that led to Apocrypha from Magnolia. The trip took 3 hours, and since the two of them had a lot of time in the train to rest. Once they had hit the ground, they both stretched a bit to eliminate the residual fatigue in their bodies, before walking onwards.

Lucy had decided to come to Apocrypha to see her dad, and since Levy had failed to secure a job with her team, she decided to accompany her best friend. As they walked Levy narrated to Lucy the story of how Natsu had managed to land himself a job with Erza and the two had left a few hours before Lucy had set foot into the guild building that day. An amused Lucy listened to Levy's story, wondering what on earth possessed Erza to decide to go on a mission with Natsu that day.

"Thanks a lot Lu-chan! I would have died of boredom in the guild today and Jet and Droy weren't really much fun to be around today. I wonder what kind of person your dad is though," Levy cheerfully exclaimed as they went up the hill that led to Lucy's house on the other side.

Lucy shrugs a little before saying, "No problem, Levy-chan. And my dad isn't really someone to be amazed at. He's kind of a jerk to his one and only daughter, so he might be a jerk to you too." At this both girls chuckle and proceed to walk faster towards the old man's house.

However, the two girls suddenly saw that there was something that was standing ahead of them on the road. Both of them were a bit surprised, the area they were on was currently deserted and Lucy was aware that this part of the town had very few residents. The pace in their strides lessened considerably as they walked cautiously towards the strange new being.

Once they had gone a bit closer to it, they noticed that it was clad in a cloak. They couldn't make out its appearance since the cloak covered it fully, even casting a shadow on its face. Deciding to walk past the strange being, Lucy and Levy proceeded faster towards their destination, deciding that it would be best to leave the being undisturbed.

However, they had only walked a few more steps when they noticed that the strange being was standing in front of them again. Levy was shocked and she looked behind to see if it was the same one, hoping that her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. To her shock, there was nothing behind her and Lu-chan, so they came to one conclusion. The being did not want them to go on farther.

They stood rooted to the ground for a few minutes, both of them wondering what to do. The person in front of them did not look as if he was about to attack them, so Lucy decided to take the initiative and immediately thrust her hand into her pocket to draw out her keys. However, before she could make a movement, there was a reaction from the being in front of her.

The cloak that it was clad in dropped to the ground, to reveal something very puzzling to the two girls. It was a creature that was neither a baboon nor a Vulcan. It looked oddly enough like a combination between the two species actually. With the familiar gargantuan arms, and sequentially, large hands that were attached to its muscular torso, it had a head that was covered in fur and small sunken eyes, and an elongated chin and prolonged ears.

Next to her, Lucy saw Levy's face whiten. Worried about her friend, she looked at her with concerned eyes. "What's wrong Levy?" Levy pointed feebly at the creature that was in front of them. "Lu-chan…but..That's a….. Myria."

_End_

**A/N: **Well, that certainly went quite well. Although it ended a bit prematurely, I wanted to keep the suspense around our main antagonists to a later chapter in the future. Either way, I hope this chapter will gain favor in your eyes as the previous ones have. Thank you so much for all the reviews, follows and favorites. You guys are amazing.


	7. Revelation

**A/N: **Hello guys and welcome to yet another chapter of "The Dragon Slayer and the Knightess." Really, before I start this chapter, I'd like to thank you for all the follows, favorites and follows so far. You guys are really amazing and thank you for all your support so far. I promise to make this story more and more fulfilling for you guys, so I ask that you continue being loyal to it and follow it through till the end. Well, here we go then!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. They belong to Hiro Mashima.

_The Enemy, Revealed_

"Myria? What's a Myria, Levy-chan?" Lucy asked her friend, who was still pointing at the creature in front of them feebly. Truthfully, Lucy had never seen her best friend this scared ever in her life. Even if they had only known each other for a short amount of time, Lucy felt that Levy was like the sister she never had. She had always wondered what it was like to have a sister, even pestering her mother at one point about why she didn't have a sister. In return, Layla HeartFilia had bought her a small female doll and told Lucy that now she had a sister. Completely elated by the event, Lucy named the doll "Michelle", and spent every minute of the day with it. She never let go of it, and her parents were consequently happy that their daughter was happy.

However, she grew up and soon realized that it was just a lifeless doll which she called her sister. She wasn't really angry at her mom or anything, she had heard stories of parents who bought their babies dolls or mannequins to keep them company as their "siblings", simply to avoid the awkward question about why they didn't have any siblings themselves. She put the doll with the rest of her clothes and stuff which he didn't use anymore in her closet, since she felt that throwing it away would be a terrible thing to do to her mother, who bought the present with love. She then went back to spending time with her mom and dad, and joked about how she wishes she had a sister. This time, however, her mother patted her on the head and told her that she would be getting one soon. The tone of her mother's voice told her that she was not pulling her leg this time, so Lucy beamed up at her mom and nodded fervently, waiting, expecting her mom to fulfill her promise to her.

However, the promise was not fulfilled. Her mother died a few weeks later, due to a mysterious disease. She fell sick a week prior, and Lucy prayed that it was not a serious condition. She watched doctors visiting her mom every day, a new one each time, and realized that her dad was probably pouring every drop of his sweat into ensuring that his wife received the best medical care in the world. Lucy was moved by her dad's efforts, and then reassured herself that everything would be okay. After all, her mother always told her that they would always be together, and that nothing would ever separate her from her family. Lucy always held her mother to her promises, so she was confident that she would definitely pull through this time. To boot, her mother was also a brilliant wizard, and Lucy had never heard stories about wizards falling prey to disease. Holding these two factors in place, she wished her mother a quick recovery and hoped for the best. Her prayers were all in vain, since her mother simply collapsed one morning, breathing her last and exiting the world.

Devastated was the least of words that described Lucy after the tragedy. The death caught her by shock, and she could not believe the news when she first heard it. Immediately, she rushed to her room, closed the door behind her and plunged her head into her pillow. The tears were already streaming down her face and she knew that she was moments away from breaking down completely. Not wanting her wails and cries to reverberate throughout the house, she cried so hard into her pillow, and cried, and cried. She did not know how long it was that she had cried, but by the time she had released her head from the soft, fluffy surface of her pillow, she looked outside and saw that the sun was already setting beyond the horizon. She heard the knocking of someone on her door, then a voice asking her," Lucy-sama, dinner is ready. Would you like to have some in the dining room with your father?" Lucy realized that it was one of the female servants of the house, and immediately realized that she did not have any appetite. "No," she replied, and realized how hoarse her voice had been. It was probably due to all the crying, she told herself, and once she felt the footsteps of the servant drawing away from her door, she plunged her face into her pillow and slept the rest of the evening off.

Her dad drowned himself in his work shortly after, and Lucy then realized that it was his method of coping with the sudden loss of his wife. She could not blame him, since she had a feeling that he would simply weep if he didn't keep himself busy. Lucy then decided to take her time learning more about her mother's celestial spirit magic, and luckily enough her mother had three golden keys which she could practice with. She became quite decent at handling each of the spirits, and after a short while, she decided that she wanted to join a Wizarding guild. She had heard rumors about Fairy Tail from her fellow townsfolk, and did her research accordingly. What she found out made her a bit startled, and the guild in question seemed to have a reputation of leaving a wake of destruction on any job it went on. This amused Lucy, and her determination to join the guild increased. Her encounter with Natsu proved to be her stroke of luck, and she became a fully fledged member of Fairy Tail. She had just made the best decision of her life, soon she came to realize.

Fairy Tail was so full of life and happiness, and as with all the members there, Lucy soon found herself absorbed into their daily antics. It was there that she met Levy McGarden, and the two of them formed a friendship which made Lucy have the sister she never had. She was so happy to have met such a wonderful person, and she spent most of her time away from jobs with her best friend. Most of the stories between them were about their lives, as well as the jobs they went on with their teams. Levy told her about how Jet and Droy would always protect her on missions, so she never had much chance to do anything since the two of the guys always took the frontlines. Thus unnerved her a little, as she rarely had a chance to practice her **Solid Script** Magic. Lucy sympathized with her on this front, telling her that her teammates were simply worried about her wellbeing so their behavior was understandable. However, not once had Levy told Lucy about how she had been afraid in the middle of her jobs.

Now here she was, fear reflected in her eyes. An expression that Lucy had never seen before. Shifting her eyes to the stranger that was in front of them, Lucy noticed that it was still staying in its position. It made no attempt to move towards them or to retreat. Instead, it's gave was fixated upon Lucy, and it seemed as if it was staring into her very soul. Taking this as a sign that they were safe, at least for the time being, she looked at Levy and waited for her to regain her composure before she explained to Lucy what exactly it was that had scared her out of her wits this much. Luckily, Levy also seemed to notice the same thing that Lucy had noticed, which was the fact that the creature didn't seem to be intent on attacking the two of them for the time being. Slowly, she steadied her breath and lowered her finger, while shifting her gaze to her best friend.

"Lu-chan, Myria are a species of magical creatures that are recorded in ancient magical scrolls and literature. Honestly, I thought they were all but mythical. So having one appears before us so suddenly really caught me by surprise, so I had to be sure I wasn't just making a mistake with a normal Vulcan. But that shape is of no ordinary Vulcan. Myria are a species of baboon-like creatures. They have extremely fighting capabilities. They fight by taking on the form of a person that was dearest to you when they were still alive," Levy explained, before Lucy intervened abruptly. "Wait, Levy-chan. You said, while they were still alive? Meaning the person whose form they take is currently dead, right? So how do they manage to take the form of a person who's already dead?" Levy had honestly expected this question from Lucy, since it didn't make any sense how they managed to do that. However, their description held an account for this.

"Well, technically it's not just dead people. They can also take the form of a person who's on death's bed, such as a terminally sick patient who is in experiencing his last hours of life. For a mage, I say that even one who is almost being killed in battle and who has been critically injured in battle is almost being killed by their opponent falls into the category. Simply put, they have the ability to see into a person's mind and soul and see the person that means the most to you (or meant the most to you, which is if they are no longer living). It is difficult for people to get over death of their loved ones, as you know. So by taking advantage of this, they use Transformation Magic and change their form to the one of the person you love. However, it isn't a skill as simple as a normal transformation. The trick is once they do this, they possess all the fighting skills, memories and thoughts that were possessed by the original person. And now that is what makes them tricky opponents, since they also wage a form of psychological warfare on the victim. You do realize how difficult it would be to fight someone you once loved, right, Lu-chan?" Lucy took in every word that Levy was telling her, and managed to nod to affirm that she understood every word of it. Levy then said, "But they are naturally slow creatures at first, since they have to read their minds of their opponents, which can provide an opening to attack them. So, I think that what it was doing earlier was studying the memories of both of us, that's why it didn't attack us from the get go. Naturally, in their original forms, they don't possess much fighting capabilities, except for their naturally fast reflexes, but naturally they are physically weak. I think that's the primary reason why they take on new forms in battle."

Lucy understood each and every word that Levy said, then was about to draw out her keys from her bag. If it was as true what Levy had just explained, then she realized that it was probably best for her to take out the enemy instantly. She had one person who she dreamt about every night, and the fact that she had died quite a long time ago still didn't change the fact that she had loved her dearly while she was still alive. She slept in her lap daily, and was read to bedtime stories by her every night before she slept. Even if Levy and her team (Natsu, Gray and Erza) had provided comfort and company for her, she still found herself crying silently at night sometimes and missing her deceased mother. There was no way she could let her mother's memory be destroyed by such a sick magic. It was too late for that, she realized.

"Well, well, someone's certainly done their homework," the Myria before them suddenly spoke up. Its voice was a bit stern and serious, a fact which sent chills down both girls back. Immediately, Levy made to make a sign with her hands, before it spoke again, "That certainly does make my work easier. I must thank you, Levy McGarden. You saved me the trouble of explaining myself as to what I was about to do next. So I'll simply state why I appeared here before you too this moment. Lucy HeartFilia, I'll need you to come with me." This made Levy immediately shout, **Solid Script; Heat Spell, **and immediately fire appeared from the air in front of her and went directly for the Myria before them. Lucy's hand froze on her back, as she caught whiff of what the Myria had said before Levy's attack on it. _Why her? _She wondered in her mind, but there was no time to get an answer, as what appeared when the smoke cleared clouded her thoughts, making her unable to say anything.

The smoke from Levy's attack, which missed and hit the ground at the feet of the enemy. She had missed narrowly, due to the fact that what the enemy had said had unnerved her and set her heart ablaze with fear. Her best friend was the target, and for whatever reason she did not know. However, she would not let Lucy be in danger. She decided that she would protect her, but this was crushed momentarily by what appeared before her after the smoke cleared.

Hair as blonde as Lucy's, eyes as dark as hers and a face that was strikingly similar to Lucy's adorned the new body that appeared before them. Lucy's mouth opened wide in horror, and Levy immediately realized who the new person was. The resemblance really was strikingly similar, so it left room for only one person in mind. Yes. It was Lucy's mother, Layla HeartFilia.

_Galuna Island_

Juvia felt the coldness that was slowly covering her body stop suddenly, and she wondered why. She was already shocked enough by the fact that "Gray" had appeared before her when she had split up with him moments earlier, so him being in front of her already was a fact that was too surprising. Then he began freezing her body, but Juvia wanted to believe that he had a good reason for doing this. After all, she had trusted the man she loved completely, and not once had he ever proved her decision of trusting him wrong.

Opening her eyes slowly, she received the second shock of her life that night. In front of her, there were two Grays that were locked arm-in-arm with each other in combat. She rubbed her eyes to ensure that she was not dreaming, but the sight before her did not change in the least bit. There were two bona fide Grays in front of her, and they really did not seem to be holding hands for the sake of bromance. Immediately, the Gray that was on her left side kicked its counterpart on the torso. It reeled over in pain, and the assaulter took the chance to take a step back before clasping his hands together and saying, **"Ice Make; Sickle." **Immediately, the shape of a sickle appeared from its hands and shot forward to the one writhing on the ground, effectively hitting it square on its head.

Juvia let out a scream, but her hands moved up to cover her mouth when she saw the "Gray" on the ground turn into an ice sculpture then break into blocks of ice. She was a bit confused at what had transpired before her, but suddenly memory kicked in and she remembered seeing such a sight before. It was the time when they had been attacked by Erza's former comrade, Simon, when they were on a beach relaxing. He had used a spell of **Darkness Magic **in his assault of both Gray and Juvia, and luckily enough due to Gray's quick thinking, he had managed to make an ice double to replace with his original body, while he hid in Juvia's body. The double took the brunt of the attack and shattered once the spell was released, effectively fooling the enemy.

She then realized that Gray had probably created a double to go after her once the duo had split up. He was probably worried about Juvia and did not want her to barge into unknown territory unguarded, so he sent a clone after her to watch over her. She felt a surge of affection for her beloved rise in her heart, and felt herself falling deeper in love with him. However, her moment of bliss was cut short, as she realized that the Gray that now stood before her, the one which had attempted to freeze her, wasn't the real Gray. It was an impostor.

Rage welled up in her, as she realized that she was angry at whoever had taken up Gray's form. _How dare you? _Immediately, she made a motion to lunge forward and send an attack at her enemy. "Hmph, well what do you know, you can fight after all. And here I thought you were going to be a thorn in my side in this entire mission," "Gray suddenly spoke up. Juvia halted in her attack. It was the same voice as the one of the Ice Make wizard. Wondering how on earth the fake was able to even replicate his voice, what really caught her attention was what it had said earlier. No one aside from her, Gray and her guild mates had known that she was accompanying Gray on this mission. Heck, even the villagers did not have any idea of who would come, since the client never really requested any specific person for a job once the request was made in the guild. _So how was it that this enemy had known that fact?_

Then it occurred to her. For one mad second, she thought that the Gray standing before her was the real one. However, that didn't add up. She certainly knew about Gray's ability to make ice clones, but that did not mean that he was the only Ice- Make wizard with that ability. There was the chance that the enemy had performed this stunt to set her off her pace, by sending a double to attack her and having the real Gray come to attack her. There really was no way of distinguishing the two, since they were similar right down to every last hair on their head. Her doubts began to increase, and the enemy spoke up again, using the same voice as before, the voice that belonged to the man she loved so dearly.

"You know, there's one thing I've always wanted to tell you Juvia. Ever since I met you actually and since you joined our guild." Juvia felt her heartbeat increase, and she perked up her ears to hear more. _A confession? _No, it couldn't be, she told herself. The timing just wasn't right. But he did say "always", and Juvia knew that this was the word that was used when someone wanted to admit feelings of love, or rarely hatred, towards a second party. Her heartbeat increased faster, and her cheeks had already started turning red. _Was it really going to happen?_ Happiness had began welling up in her, and she was already preparing to jump into the arms of Gray after he admitted his feelings for her. Nothing would have prepared her for what was coming next.

"I've always **HATED **your guts, you know." Her blood froze in her veins. He continued," Every single day, you keep on pestering and pestering me, always asking me to notice you or give you my time of the day. And to be honest, it sickens me to no end. I try to stay away from you as much as possible to give you a hint of how I've felt, but you always, always insist on being with me. So I decided that this mission I would be frank with you completely. Juvia Lockser, I hate you and I wish you would stop bothering me and get a life." He concluded. Juvia's whole world came crashing down around her. _**How? **_She wondered about whether or not he was pulling her leg, but the stern glare he threw at her told her all she needed to know. He was not joking. He had meant every word of what he had just said to her.]

Tears began welling up in Juvia's eyes. The memories about the times she had spent with Gray in the guild came rushing to her, and she did notice that he did try as much as possible to keep his distance from her. She attuned this to him being shy, but the truth is somewhere deep in her heart, she knew that he was probably not impressed with her antics and her methods of trying to win him over. The words still reverberated in her head," Hate your guts." She felt her knees give way and she collapsed to the cold, hard ground. The truth had hit her like a brick to her face. Gray Fullbuster had just rejected her.

She put her face in her hands, and began to weep. The tears felt hot as they landed in her hands, and more and more began welling up in her eyes. She was hurt deeply, and there it was that she understood it. How deeply it hurt to love someone. She cried and sobbed uncontrollably, and did not feel the ice that was slowly enveloping her body. Her hands slowly felt numb, and she realized that she was being encased in ice yet again. Looking up, she saw Gray's smirk, and she knew that he was probably getting ready to finish her off once and for good. A small smile escaped her lips. She was going to die at the hands of her beloved, a thought that brought happiness to most women. At least her dark cloud had a silver lining. Her will to fight back had long gone, there was no way she would raise her fist at the man her heart had yearned for. So she closed her eyes, the last thing they captured was his face.

However, suddenly the ice stopped its course throughout Juvia's body. She was a bit startled, and wondered whether he had changed his mind about killing her. Then she felt the warmth of something on her body, something that felt a bit sticky and gooey, and the coldness of the ice seeped away. She shifted her gaze to her torso, and saw mud having covered her body. It had the odd shape of a human being, and she was startled. There had been no mud at all in the island, owing to the fact that it had not rained for a while now. _Who on earth?_ She wondered, but her thoughts were answered, as she saw beside her, a new person had appeared.

It was a woman, by the shape of her body, and on her head lay red hair, almost bordering pink. Juvia had no idea who the woman was, but it made sense that she was the one who had saved Juvia. The woman was Sherry Blendy.

_End_

**A/N: **Well that went really well, I'm happy that I managed to make this chapter have more words than the previous one, plus everything went as I had imagined it had. Sorry about the fact that there was no Natsu and Erza in this chapter, I wanted to show Lucy and Levy, plus a bit of Juvia, and also explain about our antagonists a little. So in that aspect it went really well. I hope you guys enjoy it, make sure to read and review. **NAZA IS LOVE, NAZA IS LIFE.**


	8. Natsu's Feelings

**8- She's My Friend**

"Erza, how do you think Gray and Juvia are doing? They left earlier than us on their job, so I think by now they've probably reached Ga- something island…," Natsu asked Erza as the two walked on. The sun was already sky high and the two had walked a considerable distance without anything of interest happening. Natsu walked beside Erza, opting not to let his haste get the better of him as he did not want to leave her behind. Of course, Erza would be able to keep up with him if he decided to increase the pace of his steps, but there was no need of tiring themselves out before they even reached their destination. They were already miles away from the forest of Magnolia, and what lay in front of them were grassy plains that stretched as far as the eye could see. They had yet to get exhausted, which was a good sign since there did not seem to be any trace of a water source on the path they had walked.

"Yeah, I think they are okay. Besides, if anything happens I'm sure Gray will be able to take care of Juvia. He's as strong as you," Natsu pouted a bit at this, causing Erza to chuckle a bit in her explanation before she continued," and Natsu, it's Galuna Island, not Ga-something island." Erza let out a small laugh at this, causing Natsu to be a bit embarrassed. He always had a problem with remembering the names of people or places, evident when he called Totomaru of the Element 4 one of the "whatchamacallit 4".Still, Erza found this trait of Natsu to be quite cute, a fact which explained the smile that adorned her face when she saw how embarrassed he looked. "Besides, I don't think Juvia would let anything happen to the man she loves while she was there with him. She's that kind of woman. Sometimes I' m a bit jealous of her that she can be so bold and upfront about her feelings for the man she loves, while I'm too embarrassed to face my feelings for the man I love, thinking that it will cause more harm than good," Erza concluded, her smile fading and her expression suddenly changing to a sad one.

This did not go unnoticed by Natsu, and for one moment he thought that he misheard what Erza said. He was about to ask her to repeat what she had just said, but the look she had on her face gave her all the proof he needed that he had not misheard what Erza had said. For some odd reason, he felt something in him stir a little at what Erza said. It felt like a feeling of joy, but at the same time it felt like something slightly painful had just shot through him. He ignored the feeling and eluded it to the fact that Erza had someone special in her life and he knew that he would soon be saying farewell to her as soon as she came to terms with feelings for her special someone. He had a feeling that Erza's heart had belonged to a blue-haired man, the one she was unable to kill whilst they were on the Tower of Heaven. No matter how many tears he had made the scarlet-haired woman shed, she still gave her heart to him, or so Natsu thought.

Still, he did not know what made him say the next thing he said to Erza. It was a question out of curiosity more than anything really, but still, he felt that it had to be addressed so that he could know what it was that he felt in his heart at that moment when Erza had expressed jealousy against Juvia. "Erza, there's someone you love? Who is it?" Natsu inquired, and this caught Erza by surprise, so much that she forgot the sadness she had been feeling a few moments earlier. She looked at Natsu in surprise, and saw that look that she had been so used to seeing on his face so much as they grew up. It was a look that meant that he was dead serious about what he had asked earlier, and Erza could not find any way around the matter. For a second she had thought about confessing her growing feelings for Natsu right there and then, but to what avail? Would it help their relationship grow if by any chance he admitted to having the same feelings for her as she did for him, or would it dampen their relationship, since Natsu would just admit that he didn't feel the same way for Erza, seeing her as more of the big sister he never had? Erza was more inclined to believe that the second scenario would happen, and out of fear of rejection more than anything, she blurted out what any normal girl would in such a situation.

"It's n-nothing, really. My mind just slipped and I meant to say that if I had someone I loved, I would be more like Juvia in my approaches to the guy," Erza answered. The feeling that was in Natsu died down at this, and he still couldn't point his finger at what had caused this feeling in him. All that he knew is that he felt majorly relieved that Erza had admitted to having no feelings for anyone, so she wouldn't drift away, at least not just yet. But the next thing that Erza said was something that he would have expected, even with a million years of training in Dragon Slayer Magic. It was a question that, at least, he had never expected Erza to ask him in all their years of friendship.

"What about you, Natsu? Do you have someone you love? I mean romantically, that is," Erza inquired. She had to add the romantically part, since she knew that if she just said love, Natsu would probably say everyone in the guild. Yeah, he was that kind of an idiot, Erza told herself. This time it was her turn to look at Natsu with the same serious look he had used on her earlier. Natsu looked into Erza's eyes, and he noticed just how beautiful they were. He did not realize how he had not noticed it before, but right here and now, he had just realized just how beautiful Erza looked as she shot him that serene look. And being the honest person he was, he could not betray that look. So he decided that he would tell her the truth, but not all of it, since he was not sure of what he was feeling himself at the moment anyway.

"Yes, yes I do. Or at least I think I do. I'm not sure of it myself, but I think I'm starting to have feelings for someone. Someone special," Natsu admitted, which shocked Erza, but not as much as the red tinge that she had noticed had started forming on his face. The two of them had just reached the edge of a river, and upon hearing closer they heard the sound of rushing water. It was the distinctive sound of a waterfall, and Erza surmised that it must have been the mouth of the river where they had spent the previous night. This gave her an indication that they were probably heading nearer and nearer to the border of Magnolia, since she was well aware that what separated Magnolia from the rest of the towns in Fiore was the waterfall at its boundary. There were rocks that had been placed at the river to allow for passage across, so Natsu began crossing the river at a slow pace, making sure of each and every step that he took since the rocks were really slippery owing to the water that flowed there.

Behind him, he was unaware of the turmoil that Erza was currently undergoing as she hopped from one rock to the next. True enough, she had the feeling in her gut that Natsu started nurturing some feelings for a certain blonde, busty girl in their guild, but some part of her was hoping against hope that there was nothing going on between the two. She hoped that the relationship between the two was strictly plutonic, that they were simply the best of friends, but still that did not explain why Natsu liked spending most of his time with Lucy, or even always wanted to tag her along for all the jobs he went on. It did not explain why Natsu liked sleeping in Lucy's bed, or even sometimes using her shower. Erza's mind raced as she thought of anyone else that could have possibly captured Natsu's heart. She remembered Mira once saying that she thought Natsu was cute, but other than that the two rarely interacted outside of greetings and goodbyes when Natsu was setting off for jobs. The other girls in the guild really weren't as close to Natsu as Lucy was, and even Wendy thought of Natsu as an older brother, owing to the fact that the two were Dragon Slayers. So the only person who came to mind was Lucy. Yes, Erza Scarlet realized that Natsu Dragneel was developing feelings for Lucy HeartFilia.

She proceeded to ask him, even if she knew that the answer would probably bring her whole world shattering around her, but still she had to know. For her poor heart's sake, she had to be sure that indeed Natsu only saw her as a friend, nothing more, nothing less, so that maybe, just maybe, she could move on. She would try to forget him, and regardless of this she still wanted to remain an integral part of his life. Conflicted as she was, she posed the question to the object of her affections, which was a step away from her on the rocks they were currently on. "Is it…is it Lucy? Natsu, are you referring to Lucy when you say that you have feelings for someone?" There, she had said it. It wasn't really as hard as she had thought it would be, but now she had left herself vulnerable. For him to break her with whatever he said next. Some part of her wished that she had never brought up this stupid topic in the first place, but what Natsu said next had really shocked her beyond her wildest dreams.

He stopped momentarily, turned back to face her so that now he was looking at her in the face, then said, "Huh? What are you talking about Erza? Why would you say it's Lucy of all people?" Erza was bewildered, and looked at Natsu sternly to make sure that she had not misheard him or he was simply being too embarrassed to admit it. There were no traces of embarrassment on his face, and he looked at her with the same serious look he had used when he asked her about where her affections lay a few moments earlier. He was not lying or trying to cover things up; he had been genuine with her about this. A flame lit up in Erza's heart, and she started feeling the burden on her heart that was there a few moments earlier lighten up. Maybe, she had a chance at all this after all. Natsu's next words only gave her more and more hope, as they said, "I'm not in love with Lucy. Or have any feelings for her other than friendship. She's my best friend and nothing is going to change that. That's the reason I'm able to relate with her the way I do. I love her like a sister, and I reckon she probably feels the same way towards me." These words made Erza leap for joy, and the problem with being carried away in such situations was that you lost track of your surroundings and so did Erza, forgetting that she was at the top of a waterfall.

She felt her feet leaving the ground, and suddenly she was in the air. A bit dazed due to the bliss she felt from Natsu's explanation a bit earlier, she was a moment too late to notice the predicament she was in. Quickly thinking, she was about to call on her **Soaring Armor, **when she heard the shout of her name, "Erza!" Then she felt herself being gripped by two muscular arms, and thank God she had trained her body well, since the grip was a tad too strong on her. She closed her eyes as she took in the familiar scent of the pink-haired man, and after what seemed to be an eternity in his arms, she felt her feet landing again on the soft rocks that they were on before she slipped and fell. Erza was relieved, but one thing she could not explain is why she still felt Natsu's arms encircling her body. She was already safe now, so he had all the reason to release her, but he still held her. He held her close enough that she could feel the body heat radiating from him, and she could feel her chest pressing on his muscular torso. Erza's whole face was stained in red, and she was sure as hell lucky that Natsu's head was still buried in her shoulders. Then she noticed it. Natsu's hands were shaking as he was holding her. Could it be? Yes, she told herself. There was no other explanation. Natsu was shaking out of fear and relief.

When Natsu saw Erza slipping from the rock and about to plunge into the waterfall beneath her, fear gripped him. He felt his blood turn to ice in his veins, and suddenly his memories shifted to the time that he and Erza were in the Tower of Heaven. Jella had just been defeated, but they were not out of the woods yet. The R-Tower was about to explode, and the explosion would be powerful enough to devastate the surrounding waters, which meant that Lucy, Gray, Juvia and Milliana plus Sho and Happy would have been caught up in the explosion and persished. To avoid this, Erza realized the only way that any of them would survive was that she merged with the tower. She was already halfway in doing this when Natsu woke up from his semi-conscious state, and saw her. He begged and pleaded her to reconsider and to come out of the tower, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. Tears streamed down his eyes as he watched her get absorbed by the tower, and he wailed in agony. Now here he was again, watching her descend to the water beneath them, and he realized that she was falling away again. He wouldn't let it happen this time. He had already risked losing her once; he could not allow himself to go through something that painful ever again. Quickly, he immediately stretched out his hand for her, and managed to catch her as she was falling. Holding onto her tightly to ensure that he would not let go of her this time, he placed her slowly on the surface, and held her in an embrace that would crush any normal girl. Then again, she was Erza Scarlet, the one who went by the moniker of Titania, and the strongest girl he knew.

"Natsu, you're hurting me a little. And you do realize that if I was falling I could have just used my Soaring Armor to get back here. So you're kind of overreacting," Erza finally spoke up, after what seemed to be seconds of silence between the two. She was happy that Natsu had just saved her from what she thought was a really minute matter, but what really put her in bliss was the fact that he was embracing her like this. It was the second hug that she had gotten from Natsu since they had set off for the job, and she mentally joked how she would be deliberately putting herself in danger if that was what it required for Natsu to hold her like this. The heat raced to her face again when she realized just what she had thought, but it was nothing from the heat she felt rising from the man who had his head in her shoulders. Erza realized that he was probably embarrassed since he overreacted, and once he had released her, she was not wrong, since she saw him turning red. It was a bit funny actually, so she wanted to savor the moment by showing her appreciation," Thank you, Natsu." She admitted finally. Although she was kind of disheartened that he thought that a little fall was enough to get to her.

"You're welcome Erza," Natsu replied, and without saying anything else, he turned his back to Erza. Resuming his path across the stones, he realized that what Erza had said earlier was true, and that she could have just used her Soaring Armor or her other Winged Armors to fly back to safety. Some part of him knew this, so he wondered what had made him panic that much. Was it simply because they were friends? No, there was something more, something fundamental to all this and the thought unnerved him the more and more he thought about it. Then Erza spoke up again, determined to find out the whole truth about what he had said earlier. She felt a bit guilty about this, owing to the fact that she had not been completely honest with him earlier, but she wanted to find out more about the mystery girl that had captured Natus's heart. Her Natsu's heart. She smiled a little at the prospect of calling him hers.

"Ne, Natsu, about what you were saying earlier….if it's not Lucy, then who is it? Who are you falling for?" Erza asked, and she was amazed at the boldness with which she had asked. Yes, love was all about putting your best foot forward, and if you weren't ready to give it your all you had no business being in love with someone. She decided that she would be brave, and risk it all; within her some part of her hoping that she was the one who Natsu was falling for. Besides, she had two hugs from him under her belt now, and she took pride in the fact. Not that she was going to tell anyone about it though.

She bumped into Natsu as he had stopped momentarily after she had posed her question. Wondering why, she slowly saw his shoulders turning and his head made a right turn and Erza realized that this was probably it. He was just about to turn and look her in the eyes and confess that she was the girl of his dreams, the girl he had yearned for for a while now, and by some miracle the two of them would share a kiss. Erza stopped her racing thoughts as she realized she was probably thinking too far ahead, and there was the slight chance that Natsu would probably tell her about some other girl, and still her heart would be broken. However, the more she thought about this second alternative, the more and more it didn't make sense. Natsu didn't exactly make a point of hiding any new encounters he had made with any people outside the guild, being quite the loudmouthed person. He always told everyone in the guild about all his tales on his jobs, including all the people he had encountered, and Erza noticed that he talked about them with an air of casualness around him. He did speak warmly about them, but that was just it, there were no strings attached anywhere. Erza's insides immediately began squirming, and she realized that she was just about to be confessed to for the first time in her life. When it happened.

Natsu's head stopped in its turn momentarily, and he looked towards his right. He raised his hand and pointed towards said direction, and turned to Erza and asked her, "Erza, what's that?" Snapping out of her daze, Erza remembered that she had a job to focus on, and mentally blamed herself for getting carried away in the anxiety of the moment. She dismissed all her earlier thoughts and shifted her eyes in said direction, when she noticed it. It looked like a hollow section at the foot of a large mountain. She did not remember seeing that area before, even on her expeditions outside Magnolia. It looked as if it had just been made recently, and then it all hit Erza. This was probably where the mayor's son had been kept after he was being kidnapped, so it was probably the hideout of their enemies, the Myria. She felt relieved that they were a step closer to completing their job and her a step closer to finding out Natsu's feelings for her. She decided that after this job was over, she would finally hear the whole truth from Natsu, and she would accept it as it was. Love was weird like this.

"It's a cave. It looks more like a hideout if you ask me. I don't think that's the work of miners as they were trying to excavate for rocks to make into lacrima, so it would be safe to assume that it's the enemies' hideout. Which means that there's the slight chance that the boy is being kept there," she explained to Natsu. At her last sentence, Natsu turned to look at her, and he beamed. She recognized that as the look he had on his face was the look he had when he was about to complete a job, or when he was about to brawl with his foes. Not wanting to ruin his fun, she tapped him on the back, and then told him, "Let's hurry. Or else you want to spend another night out in the woods with me, that is." Natsu looked at her hand and told her, "It wouldn't be so bad you know, spending another night with you." Erza froze in her steps, and then looked at Natsu, before realizing the weight of the words he had just blurted out. A blush threatened to break out on her face again, and she willed it away, telling herself that her job at the moment was more important. Besides, what lay in front of them was more important that what they had at that point. She walked ahead of him, and he walked behind her, as the duo went nearer and nearer the hideout.

Then they saw it. At the entrance to the hideout, there stood two silhouettes. One of them was the silhouette of a woman, owing to the curvy figure, and the second one was the one of either a short person or an old man, due to the fact that it looked as if it was crouching on the ground. Erza assumed it to be the latter, since even of it was a short person they would have been standing upright, owing to the energy they still carried in their bones. She materialized a sword, since her first thought was that the enemy had come out to give them a proper greeting, and behind her she felt the familiar heat of Natsu's flames. This meant that he had also activated his magic, and slowly, the two proceeded to encounter their new enemy.

Nothing could have readied them for the two people that stood before them. Natsu's flames disappeared as he recognized the form of the girl that was in front of her. She was the girl that had been haunting his dreams for a while now, ever since her untimely death years past at the hands of her brother. He recognized her white short hair and her blue eyes. Her petite form. The red dress she had worn prior to her demise. These entire features broke out into a single word that escaped his mouth. A word which went unnoticed by the woman who stood next to him, owing to the shaky nature of his voice and the softness that accompanied it. Yes, the girl's name was…."Lisanna?" Natsu muttered.

Of course, this did not go unnoticed by Erza, herself being visibly shocked by the sudden appearance of her former guild mate in front of the two. However, what really shocked her was the old man who stood next to Lisanna. He was among the first friends that Erza had made when she was imprisoned as a kid. The old man she told all about all her dreams of being a wizard and flying on a broom when she managed to escape from that place. She had promised that she would also rescue him and take him out of that dreadful place. He was a lean old man with pale skin. She recognized the two strands of hair that stood up from the rest and pointed outwards. His familiar long eyebrows that were nearly as long as the hair on his head, and reached past his chin brought back fond memories to her. Although she knew he had died, she had witnessed it herself first hand. So how was he here in front of her right now? She had no clue, although her mouth uttered the man's name…to confirm that he was really there.

"Rob-ojii-chan?" Erza muttered, and the air around the four suddenly became tense.

**A/N: To be continued**


	9. The Counterattack Begins, Part 1

**A/N: **Hello to all my faithful fans! Before I begin this chapter I would like to thank you all for all the reviews, follows and favorites that you have given so far. Honestly, I am extremely grateful and I promise that I will continue updating chapters that will definitely be worth your time. So without further ado, here's the 9th chapter of **"The Dragon Slayer and The Knightess."**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. They are the sole property of Hiro Mashima.

_The Counterattack Begins(Part 1)_

"W-Who are you?" The water mage who was on the ground slowly asked as she looked up at her savior. She had clearly never seen this woman before, but looking at her closer she noticed that she was indeed a very attractive woman. Sporting pink hair that was tied into two gorgeous pigtails, and blue eyes that were almost reminiscent to Juvia's, but slightly darker, and a really curvaceous body, she was clad in a purple and pink short spaghetti dress with light pink trimmings, black leggings and high-heeled sandals. Yes, the woman's name was Sherry Blendy.

Juvia scanned the woman's body to see if she had a guild mark anywhere on her body. Upon seeing none, Juvia thought that for a second the woman was a freelance mage, unaffiliated to any guild, similarly the way Juvia was for a short while after Phantom Lord was disbanded and before she joined Fairy Tail. However, this did not make sense, since if the woman was indeed a free agent, then why did she save Juvia? She had no reason to save her and yet it did not look like she had done this by accident. No, she had a purpose in coming here, evident in the way she looked at her opponent without taking her eyes off him for a second.

Then she heard the woman in front of her speak up for the first time since her arrival. "Don't worry; I'm on your side. I'm Sherry Blendy, and I'm a mage from Lamia Scale. You must be from Fairy Tail, owing to the guild mark on your calf," Sherry introduced herself. Juvia looked at the woman then asked her, "Um, Sherry-san, not to be rude, but I don't see your guild mark anywhere, so how do I know I can trust you? For all I know, there's a chance that you might be allied with him." She pointed at the Gray impostor that was standing in front of them.

"Well, well, I certainly didn't expect Lamia Scale to show up here on Galuna Island. Tell me, girl, how did you find this place?" "Gray" asked Sherry. Hearing Gray's voice coming from this impostor's mouth made Juvia suddenly feel sickened to her stomach, since she could not forgive him for taking on the form of the man she loved dearly. However, she knew she could not just charge in haphazardly, so she would bid her time and look for an opening, a chance to strike her opponent down. After all, she was not exactly sure how strong he was, so she decided to take precautionary her battle prowess, he assumed that the girl did not have incredible magic skill, so he decided it would be better to see how events would play out between the two female mages that were in front of him. Besides, he had completely shattered Juvia's will to fight beforehand with his "rejection", so he ruled out any chances of her joining in the duel between him and Sherry.

Sherry looked back at her opponent with the same look she had used earlier, before saying, "I see no reason to tell you something like that." A vein twitched in her opponent's forehead, and his patience began running thin. However, he decided not to rush in and finish off his offender yet, since he realized that she still looked like she wanted to tell something to tell Juvia. However, then he noticed something odd. Sherry had appeared just in time to save Juvia, but the method of salvation was what puzzled him. Judging by the mud that appeared on Juvia's body, he assumed that she was either a water mage or an earth mage, but he still didn't see how she had managed to break Juvia out of her ice casing. So he decided to ask the second question that had popped up in his mind.

"Well then, answer me this. How did you manage to break my ice? Gray Fullbuster's ice cannot be broken through ordinary means, so how did you accomplish the feat?" He asked for the second time that night. Sherry pondered a bit whether she would answer his query, but then an idea popped in her mind. She could use this chance to give a signal to Juvia, so she decided to engage the man in conversation. "Well, that's pretty simple actually. Your ice magic, no matter how much you've copied it from Gray Fullbuster, is not exactly as perfect as his. So I decided to use part of my **Mud Doll **to cover the ice that you had encased this woman in earlier. Mud is an impurity, so it lowered the melting point of the ice, enough for it to completely break apart," Sherry explained slowly to the man. Behind her back, however, she held up two fingers to Juvia, pointing in the direction that the man was, but a bit to his side.

Juvia immediately understood that Sherry wanted her to make her way behind the man's back and find the perfect chance to attack him while he was engaged in battle with Sherry. In her mind, she still doubted the intentions of Sherry, she decided that it would be better to give her the benefit of the doubt at the moment, since both of them seemed to have the same enemy at the moment. _The enemy of my enemy is my friend, _Juvia thought, and besides if she tried to attack her anytime, Juvia would be adequately prepared to counter attack. So, slowly, she masked her presence as she slipped into the trees that lay behind her. After Sherry realized that Juvia had interpreted her signal correctly, she smiled a little to herself, and then decided that her chance had come at last. Without Juvia around, she could fight freely without having to worry about protect a shattered Juvia.

"**Rock Doll!" **Sherry shouted immediately, and Gray was taken aback. Slowly, the ground beneath them started shaking vigorously as an enormous figure appeared from it. It was as big as a city, easily being on the same height as the largest mountain on the island. Gray looked up in awe as the huge figure towered above him, then smirked a little. "I see, that's how it is. Your magic is **Doll Magic. **So that's how you were able to control that mud earlier. How intriguing. Well then, let's see what you can do," he mocked Sherry. Sherry felt her anger nearly reaching her boiling point, since she personally hated being underestimated, but she knew that it wasn't the time to bring in her emotions into the fray. She would pour every drop of her power into defeating the opponent that was in front of her, so she raised the fist of her doll and let it descend to the earth in an ear-splitting crash.

Looking at the position where the fist had landed, she saw a huge amount of debris and dust rising into the air, and smiled satisfactorily at the damage of her attack. _There was no way he was able to dodge that, _she thought to herself, since the attack was wide scale and did not leave nearly enough room for evasion. The rock fist slowly rose into the air, and she moved forward to get a closer look at his lifeless body, which was supposed to be lying in the rubble. Reaching the crater that had been a cause of her attack; she stared into the destroyed section of the earth and saw…nothing.

She was shocked and immediately began a frantic search of her surroundings to discover her opponent's whereabouts. Looking behind her, she saw nothing, but then a deafening noise appeared behind her that startled her further. Her earth doll began cracking from its base going up, and her eyes shifted to the origin of the destruction. There, standing at the base of the doll, stood "Gray." His hand was plunged into the doll's bottom half, and he opened his mouth slowly to say the words, "Here it is."

"H-How?" the words feebly escaped from Sherry's mouth. She had not yet grasped as to why he was able to destroy her doll so easily. He turned to face her, a grim expression on his face. "It was quite easy really. Dolls have a core from where their entire form and structure is held in place, so it was a simple matter of finding it and destroying it." He spoke with such a nonchalant expression on his face. "The biggest weakness with such a huge structure is that its movements are consequentially dulled, so while you were raising its fist in the air, I moved fast enough before its fist landed on the earth and immediately began assaulting its body. Of course, you were too concerned with where I was before that you didn't pay attention to my movements. You put too much faith in your doll's attack, and that is the reason you have lost this fight."

"I h-haven't…" Sherry immediately spoke up with a defiant tone in her voice; however she knew that she was in a really terrible situation at the moment. She had used almost all her magic in that rock doll, hoping that it would end the battle in one clean finish, since she would not have preferred a long drawn-out battle. Her magic reserves were simply not going to last her that long. She hoped against hope that he would see past her bravado, and decided to use her remaining energy to make one last attempt at fighting. She raised her hand to call on another doll, and immediately she felt a rougher, colder hand immediately grasp her hand tightly.

"Give it up. There's nothing more you can do," Gray said, as he held her hand firmly in place to ensure that she could not cast any more dolls. "You have fought bravely, Sherry Blendy, but ultimately this is as far as you will go. Now perish," his voice was cold as the temperature that Sherry was currently feeling in her hand. "I see that Juvia Lockser managed to escape in the midst of things. No matter, I will simply hunt her down as soon as I'm through with you. She couldn't have left the island, as the barrier cast by my partner is still intact," he added on. Sherry immediately came to a shocking conclusion. Juvia was nowhere to be seen, and Sherry had expected her to show up in considering the situation she was in. She had given her the correct signal earlier, so why? Sherry then realized that Juvia must have not trusted her enough to actually follow through with her suggestion, so she decided to flee the scene and leave Sherry alone in the jaws of danger.

Her limbs lost their strength as she felt ice encasing her arm and stretching all the way to her shoulders. She closed her eyes, and immediately thoughts of a bluish-silver haired ice mage began popping up in her head. A tear streaked down her cheek, realizing that she had not admitted what was in her heart to the person who mattered the most, but it was too late. Then, she heard a shout from behind "Gray", **"Water Slicer!" **She opened her eyes immediately, and saw the figure in front of her cleanly cleaved into two halves, from his scalp to his torso. Behind the man was Juvia lockser, anger radiating in her eyes and a water blade held in both her hands. She had cleanly cut him in half, a fact that shocked even Sherry.

A deafening scream stole the night air and the man's body fell limply to the ground between the two women. He was dead.

Sherry brought her hand slowly away from the place where he held it a few moments earlier, and rubbed it to shake away the residual cold that had stayed there. She looked up at Juvia, whose eyes now seemed to have settled after she had mercilessly dispatched off their enemy with no sign of sympathy. Still, she held her water blade in her hand, and with no sign that she would release it began to fear for her life a little. Still, she was grateful that Juvia had appeared when she had, so she decided to express her appreciation. "Thank you," she said softly. Juvia, who still seemed to be in a daze, immediately looked down where Sherry lay. Her expression slowly calmed down after that, and she released her blade before replying, "You saved me first. Juvia was just repaying the favor. Besides, I hated his guts, so I wanted to vent my anger out on him."

Sherry chuckled a little, and after realizing that Juvia had finally gone back to normal, spoke up again, in a slightly higher and more confident voice than before," Well, that took you long enough. For a second there I thought I was a goner." Juvia smiled a little, and said, "Please, it would leave a bad taste in my mouth if Juvia just let someone who saved my life get killed in front of me. That isn't really Fairy Tail spirit. By the way, I'm Juvia Lockser, a water mage." Juvia finally introduced herself to Sherry. Sherry raised her eyebrows in surprise, since the mage had even told her about her magic type, so it meant they were finally on the same wavelength.

Getting up from the ground since she felt most of her strength returning to her body by this point, she replied, "I use Doll Magic." Juvia nodded before saying, "Now, Sherry-san, since we are finally acquainted with each other, mind telling me what happened here? How exactly was a person able to replicate Gray-sama's magic and appearance? The appearance part isn't really that shocking since it could be well a case of **Transformation Magic, **but no matter how much you assume someone's appearance, it shouldn't be possible to copy their magic o such an extent. What exactly was he?" She said, pointing to the ground where their lifeless enemy lay. However, immediately she let out a scream, as what lay on the ground was a sight for sore eyes.

"A Vulcan?!" Juvia exclaimed as she realized that the creature had a slash from its head to its torso, the same injury she had inflicted on "Gray" mere moments earlier. "B-but how….?" Juvia turned her gaze towards Sherry, who was looking at the creature on the ground in a pensive way. She didn't look as fazed as Juvia, judging by how she knelt on the earth to get a better view of the creature. After a few moments of escalated silence between the two women, Sherry finally spoke up, "I see. It's exactly as Jura-san had explained it." Juvia was a bit surprised at the name that came from Sherry's mouth, recognizing him as one of the Ten Mage Saints. She turned to Juvia who was looking at her with a bewildered expression on her face. "Juvia-san, this isn't a Vulcan. It well looks like it, but it isn't. It's a Myria."

"What's a Myria?" Juvia asked, but suddenly Sherry heard a loud crash coming from the other side of the forest. She quickly turned to Juvia and said, "I'll explain later, right now we need to hurry up and get to where that explosion has come from." Juvia was a bit lost at first, but then she remembered that the sound came from where Gray was headed earlier. Fear gripped at her heart as she immediately began following after Sherry, who had already started heading off. "What is going on in this island?" Juvia inquired from her, hoping that Sherry would at least answer her second question, after having postponed the first one. Sherry looked behind at her, and told her, "It will take too long to explain it to you, but one thing that I can tell you for now, if that creature had managed to copy Gray Fullbuster's form, he might be at death's door as we speak."

Sherry did not see the horrified expression that had appeared on Juvia's face after that sentence.

_Meanwhile, in another section of Galuna Island_

Gray Fullbuster's body lay on the cold, rough earth, his body having lost all consciousness. He was covered in grievous injuries in a lot of sections on his body, and towering over his unconscious form, was his former master and now current enemy, Ur. The battle against her had proved to be too much for him to take on, considering that the woman was leagues away from him in terms of power and skill, so he had suffered a bone-crunching defeat. Ur, on the other hand, looked perfectly fine just as she had at the beginning of the battle. She slowly walked to her opponent's unconscious form, ready to finish him with her strongest move, **Iced Shell. **She wanted to ensure that nothing remained of her opponent.

Then all of a sudden, she stopped a few steps away from the boy. Looking into the darkness of the forest that surrounded her, she heard footsteps coming towards her from a fair distance away. She stopped herself for a moment, thinking that her comrade had finished off Gray's comrade, so he had returned to her. However, there was something more ominous about the footsteps, and they slowly came closer and closer until they revealed a new person.

"Who are you?" she inquired once she laid eyes on him. The man in question had bluish-silver hair, with some strands pointing down and partially covering the left part of his face. His eyes were slanted, with dark round pupils, which were surrounded by similar dark lines. Lyon Vastia had just appeared onstage.

He looked at "Ur" intently, before his mouth opened up and he spoke up, "Well, well, you'd think my former master would recognize one of her protégés after not seeing him for so long. Well then, again I didn't expect her to be beating my sibling disciple to boot too, so I guess that gets you zero marks as a mentor." At this statement, Ur realized that the man was the other student that she had been seeing in her memories after taking on her new current form. Still, she had not expected him to show up here tonight, so she took him as an enemy.

"So you came here to save him. Tell me, how exactly did you manage to enter the island? The last time I checked I had erected a strong enough ice barrier to make sure that no one left the island or entered, yet you are standing here now. How?" She implored her "former student". Lyon smirked a little and said, "Well, we have an extremely powerful wizard in our guild called Jura Neekis. Ever heard of him?" Ur's eyes widened in surprise, a fact which made Lyon rejoice inwardly at the moment. "I decided to come here to visit Ur's memento, and Sherry-san decided to accompany me, but Jura said that he wanted to come too, since there was something that had been bugging him about the state of the island. Once we were within view of the island, he saw that the island had been encased in ice, confirming his suspicions, and then he proceeded to tell us about you guys. Myria, if I remember correctly."

Lyon watched as Ur's face contorted itself in a mixture of fury and shame, so he decided that he would end the conversation there. However, "I've always been interested in dueling against my master, even if you are a clone. So I guess I'll take you on. Besides, if I let that guy over there kick the bucket I won't be able to sleep peacefully at night, so I'm here for his ass too," Lyon said, as he beckoned for the enemy to come at him. She started walking towards him, taking heavy steps with the force in her feet increasing in each stride, and immediately, Lyon shouted **Ice Make:Prison!**

Ur immediately took a few steps backwards, looking around her for any sign of the spell which Lyon had just cast. Seeing nothing coming her way, she wondered whether Lyon had misfired the shot when she felt a familiar feeling of coldness coming from behind her. Shooting a glance at her back where she was sure Gray lay, she saw a prison made of ice surrounding him, and realized that Lyon had fired the spell towards Gray. A bit perplexed as to why he would use a spell on his own sibling-disciple, she looked at him in confusion before he said, "That makes sure he doesn't get in the way even if he does gain consciousness. Now I can fight you without holding back." At this point, Ur spoke up again, "You're still the same obnoxious brat that I took up years ago. I guess people never really change do they?"

Completely surprised at the way that Ur had spoke just there, he realized that it was the same tone that his master had, but he refused to be sucked in by the feelings of nostalgia that threatened to overwhelm him. However, he was curious as to why she had remarked that about that, so he decided to continue talking to her. "Oh and why do you say that?" He asked her. "You still use Ice Magic with one hand. And I always told you that you need two hands to use Ice Magic."

Lyon felt the blood in him boiling after she had said those words. She had definitely crossed the line at that point. He was willing to pass up on the fact that she had taken up the form of the master that he had adored and even wished to surpass, but she could not say those words. Ever since the incident with Deliora on the island they were currently on, Lyon had carried on his shoulders the burden of regret of not listening to his late master's instructions. He had been in over his head with the thought that he could surpass her, but after his sense being beaten back into him by Gray, he had turned over a new leaf, and was currently living a life that he was sure his master would be proud of. Hearing those words from that fake made him feel the blood in his veins boiling, and that was saying something for an Ice mage.

"Shut up. You have no right to say that, you damn fake!" He snapped at his opponent. Ur realized that she had hit a sore spot with what she had said earlier, so she smirked and prepared to continue to berate her former student farther. "Well then, come and make me **not **say it, Lyon," she mocked him. Immediately, Lyon felt all the blood rush to his head, so he held his hands together in that all-too familiar pose, and shouted, **"Ice Make: Eagle!"**

Lyon watched as the flock of eagles burst forth from the magic circle on his hand, and charged towards the enemy, but he knew that it would not nearly be enough to even faze her. He planned to use the eagles as a distraction, so he clasped his hands together for the third time that night, and shouted, **"Ice Make: Snow Tiger!" **The tiger leaped gracefully from him and made a dash towards the cloud of ice that had been formed by the eagles in the first attack. Lyon watched the scene before him unfold for a while before he decided that he would take the next step in attacking.

To his slight surprise, the animals he had created out of ice earlier shattered completely, and in their wake, he saw Ul having formed a shield of ice with her free hand. Her other hand was still staying in her pocket, something which Lyon did not fail to notice. "Heeh, so you're going to fight with one hand in your pocket. You're telling me I'm not even worth using both your hands to fight against?" Lyon asked his "master."

She lowered her hand that was currently in the air after blocking Lyon's flurry of attacks, and then replied, "Well, you're not giving me a reason for me to take you seriously, so I decided I would respond with the level of power that I felt was necessary to counter your magic. It's only fitting right? After all, I don't want to harm my cute disciple." She smiled mockingly at him.

There it was again, that sickening voice and tone that he had come to love hearing only from Ur and her alone. Hearing it from this impostor made him want to rush at her and choke the life out of her, but he realized that it would be meaningless to do it with just words. So he decided that he would defeat her flawlessly.

"**Ice Make: Geyser!" **The ground between Lyon and Ur suddenly erupted in a multitude of ice spikes that rapidly made its way towards Ur. She was slightly surprised at the level of attack he had used, but it wasn't cause for much concern, since she gracefully took a step backwards and mimicked his spell. **"Ice Make:Geyser. **The effect was almost instantaneous. Ur's ice spikes completely demolished Lyon's spikes and once he had seen that his spell had been beaten, he somersaulted a few feet sideways as the wall of ice spikes narrowly missed him. Not opting to give Ur a chance to take a break, he shouted, **"Ice Make: Saber!" **He quickly manifested a sabre of ice out of his hands, and made a quick dash for Ur.

She chuckled slightly, and then shouted**," Ice Make: Sword!" **A sword that was considerably thinner than Lyon's broad sword, manifested from her outstretched palm. Lyon was a bit puzzled as to why she would use a thinner sword than his, immediately registered that she was still not taking him seriously, and he moved quicker, putting all his muscular strength into the saber which he was holding tightly. With a loud enough smash, he crashed his blade into Ur's blade, and the result was that his blade broke soundly and the pieces of ice fell silently to the forest floor.

Lyon looked at his hands in an unbelieving manner, and Ur simply held her sword to her back. "Well, I'll applaud you for making me use two hands. But you seem to be at your wit's end, boy. Unless you have any more tricks that you think would be worth my time," she spoke in a colder voice than what she had been using moments earlier while she was berating Lyon. Lyon quickly raised his hands to his shoulders, and chanted**, "Ice Make: Cannon!" **Ul was caught by surprise when she saw the mouth of cannon only a few inches away from her face, then realized that this was a part of Lyon's plan. On the opposite side of the cannon, Lyon smiled; positive that there was no way Ur could dodge from that distance, despite her quick reflexes. He shot the cannon immediately, putting all his remaining magic into that final blow.

**A/N: ** Finally, finished this chapter. It's considerably longer than the previous one, although not by much, but I'm still happy since I managed to reach my quota. I hope I captured the fight scenes perfectly, I tried my best and that was the best I could do, so I hope you guys will bear with it. Oh, and if you're wondering how come Juvia killed her opponent in cold blood like that, I was trying to capture Juvia's reaction from her fight with Meredy, when she heard him saying Gray would die, she looked so scary when she snapped! So I figured that having a Gray impostor would not go well with her, meaning same reaction. Read and review and thank you all.


	10. The Counterattack Begins,Part 2

**A/N: **It has been quite a while, but nevertheless welcome to Chapter 10 of "The Dragon Slayer and the Knightess." Finally hitting the 10 chapter mark and I promise this chapter will be quite lengthy, but I hope that you guys will enjoy it as you did the others, or even more. So, here goes nothing!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. They are the property of Hiro Mashima.

_The Counterattack Begins (Part II)_

_Galuna Island_

There was a loud noise of firepower from cannon, then a silence as dense as the darkness surrounding the forest enveloped the vicinity.

Within this darkness, the two female mages ran and ran, the cherry-haired woman of the two identifying the position of the sound as where her guild mate was currently. She turned her head to face the blue-haired woman who was beside her.

"That sounds like the sound from Lyon-sama's **Ice Cannon. **It came from 2 o'clock. Let's hurry up, Juvia," She explained to the water mage, and Juvia nodded, before the two quickened the pace in their feet.

"Gray-sama, please be safe," a worried Juvia prayed in her heart.

Lyon Vastia had just used the remainder of his magic in that last devastating spell, so he felt his body go numb and he steadied himself by his hands as he fell to the cold, hard earth of the forest floor. He drew in heavy breaths, while sweat trickled from every pore in his body. It had been a while before he had been in such a life and death battle, and while every muscle in his body screamed in exhaustion, in his heart he felt a bit thrilled that he had managed to go all out for the first time since his battle with Gray a few months ago on the same island. He slowly raised his head to examine the extent of the damage that he had done, and his sight was embraced by a huge cloud of ice and snow.

Feeling a bit satisfied at the extent of the damage, he looked into the night sky, taking in the beautiful constellation of stars that was miles and miles away from his field of vision. A fitting finale for such a battle, he concluded in his mind.

However, things weren't over just yet, he came to learn a few moments later.

The cloud of debris from his attack slowly cleared, revealing a sight that he had not expected to see again. A leg came into view, before revealing a pair of them, then a torso, then a pair of arms, then the face of his enemy, Ul.

Lyon's eyebrows arched wider in surprise, and he tried moving his hand. It was no use. All the strength had drained from his limbs, and he couldn't move as much as a finger at the moment. So here he stood, in the face of imminent death, and he was too powerless to do anything.

He was not yet out of the woods, and he seemed to have jumped straight from the frying pan into the fire.

The silver-haired man gritted his teeth in shame. He had failed in two accounts, saving his sibling disciple and also defeating his former master whom he had sworn to surpass when he was a kid. Of course, he had come to the realization by now that the enemy standing before him was not his former master, but merely an imitation, an impostor, who had simply taken upon Ul's physical appearance just to rile up Gray and him. However, this was no testament to the amount of skill and magic she possessed. She was nearly as strong as Ul, a bridge that Lyon realized he was still far from crossing.

Taking a closer look of his prey's physical state, he noticed that there was something amiss. Half of her torso and face had been blown off, and in their place was a large layer of ice. Of course, Lyon's attack had indeed made contact. There was no way she could dodged such a wide range point-blank attack, no matter how skilled she was. However, in the wake of the attack, her quick thinking had allowed her to quickly freeze the sections of her body that had been blown away, preventing her from bleeding out to death. It was such an elaborate plan and Lyon's memories shifted to years ago. The memory of him as a kid and as he watched Ul fight the demon Deliora, alongside his fellow apprentice Gray.

_The fight had gone on for a while, and Lyon slowly got up from the rubble that he had been knocked into with a slight concussion. Deliora had managed to land a blow on him, but due to Ul's timely arrival, she managed to form an __**Ice Cushion, **__to smoothen Lyon's crash into the demolished building, before she herself engaged the vile demon in battle. Luckily, Gray himself lay beside Lyon, injured but not so gravely. As Lyon's eyes slowly open, he saw that his master had taken a considerable amount of damage, owing to the blood that flowed from her hair and covered her left eye. Her clothes had also been torn in several places, and there were several bruises on her damaged body. As Lyon's gaze shifted downwards, his mouth slowly parted in shock as he laid witness to the damage that was on Ul's right leg._

_The leg itself had been blown off from the knee, and in its place lay an ice casting, that had taken on the same shape as the right leg. There was a slight trickle of blood from the ice casting, meaning that the blood flow had not been stopped. _

_Lyon's heart almost froze in his chest; however, there was another feeling that welled up in him. He felt a new surge pride for Ul, since she had just managed to perform a feat that he had thought unattainable._

Back to the present, his enemy had managed to also replace her blown away body sections with ice from his magic, and Lyon could not help but smirk.

"You intend to stop at nothing to tarnish her memory, do you?" The ice-mage thought in his mind. However, it was already too late for him. He felt the upper part of his body give away the remaining strength, and with a last glance at his Master approaching him, presumably to finish him off, he realized that all was lost.

However, as his conscience slowly drifted away, he allowed himself one last smile, as he had managed to accomplish something that he had promised himself a long time ago. It was a promise that he had made with his deceased master, but more of an oath to himself, as he realized at the time that she had probably dismissed it as one of his big talks, the same way that he had bragged about defeating Deliora when he had learnt that it had been the cause of the demise of Gray's entire village.

_As Lyon walked to the store with his master to get provisions since their family had increased by one member, Lyon stared at his master's back as she walked ahead of him. Feeling awe at her display the other day when she had displayed to him and Gray how to make anything out of ice, as it was a form of __**Molding Magic, **__he had been blown away and utterly amazed at the ease at which she used the magic. Her form and stance were so beautiful, and at that moment, Lyon had decided to make the older wizard his goal._

"_Lyon, what's wrong?" Ul asked, as she had realized that he had stopped walking after her, but was staring at the ground in a pensive manner. Ul's call snapped him out of his train of thoughts, and he found her kneeling and looking at him in the eye._

_A bit surprised at their close proximity, he quickly threw his arms his face in defense. "Oh, nothing!" He blurted out without thinking, hoping that his master would be dumb enough to believe what he had just said._

_However, Ul still retained her motherly instincts, even if her daughter had been taken away from her by fate a short while ago. She was not that dense not to be able to notice that nothing was troubling her young protégé._

"_Lyon, I know you better than that. Come on, spill it. Is there something troubling you?" The older woman pressed on, ready to get to the root of what was troubling Lyon._

_Lyon cast his eyes downwards in embarrassment, as he had not expected to reveal what was on his mind to the object of his admiration. His lips parted, then he said, "Well, promise not to laugh at what I'm about to say?"_

_Ul smiled softly, and then said, "I promise."_

_Lyon looked up from the rocks he had been staring at on the ground, then said, "Yesterday, at the training with you and Gray, the sculptures that you made amazed me so much, that I decided to make you my rival. So I set on my sights on surpassing you, once I got a better hold of my magic. No matter how long it took. Is that weird?"_

_Ul was a bit taken aback by this revelation, not expecting to hear these words at all from Lyon. She had certainly heard some big talk from him in the past, but never once had she thought that he would set his sights on surpassing her. This brought a faint feeling of pride in her heart, and she looked at the young silver-haired kid affectionately._

_What she did next, Lyon had not expected at all. At least not in front of all the people who were walk around the two._

_She slowly wrapped her hands around Lyon, and Lyon felt a blush of embarrassment break out on his cheeks. She held him in a hug, much like a mother would to her own kid after they had revealed their dreams to the parent._

"_Wha- Let go of me! I'm not a kid anymore!" Lyon protested, while trying to break away from the tight hold he was in by pushing against the woman's shoulders. It was no use, since she was bigger than him._

_After a few seconds of silence between the two, Ul released Lyon, and after looking at him in the eyes once more, she raised her hand and pinched him lightly on the nose._

"_Well, look at you! Talking like an adult and all!" The black haired woman exclaimed, while grinning at Lyon, who was holding his nose between his hands. _

"_Hey, you said you won't laugh!" A flustered Lyon exclaimed, while rubbing his nose to relieve it of the slight tinge of pain that he had felt at Ul's contact._

"_I'm not. I'm just amused, is all," Ul replied, but then she held her hands at her knees and steadied herself as she stood upwards. Once she was standing upright again, she spoke again, "Tell you what, the moment you manage to make a scratch on me while fighting or in training, I'll acknowledge that you have reached my level."  
Lyon released his nose, then fervently nodded, before shouting back, "I'll make one really soon! You just wait and see!" _

_Since that day, he trained twice as hard, making sure to hone all of his skills into beating his teacher._

As he slumped to the floor of the forest in defeat, he smiled a bit wider to himself, since he had managed to fulfill his promise from that day. Even if his master had been long gone and the one currently facing him was not his master.

As his faint body made a light thud upon contact with the earth, Ul slowly walked towards the defeated man, albeit slowly as her whole torso ached with injury. She had managed to step sideways in time before Lyon's blast enveloped her entire body, but it wasn't good enough. The left side of her face and torso had been considerably blown away, and she felt a sharp sense of pain sting her body. However, the Myria soon remembered a similar incident that had happened to the former owner of her body in her battle with the demon named Deliora, and immediately chanted the spell, **Ice Make: Replacement. **The ice immediately began spreading from her waste, and within a matter of seconds her entire left portion had been covered by ice.

As she walked slowly towards Lyon, she realized that her previous spell had consumed too much of her magic reserves, and she probably had enough magic for one last finishing move. After all, replacing your body organs with ice was no small feat; hence it required a large amount of magic.

"You did quite well, Lyon Vastia. But it wasn't good enough. Now, I'll send you to hell," The Myria said, and once she had reached Lyon's body, she said softly**, "Ice Make: Scythe."**

The ice weapon slowly materialized in her hands, and once she deemed it to be of suitable length, swung it downwards, prepared to sever Lyon's head from his body.

There was the sound of a crash with a rocky surface, and Ul's eyes widened as she realized that her weapon had not made contact with Lyon's neck. Instead, it had hit a large rocky surface, which had just emerged from the ground the second her scythe was inches away from contact with Lyon's skin. She immediately became aware of the presence of another enemy in the vicinity, since it was obvious that the rock had not just leapt from the ground in rescue of her fallen foe.

Immediately, someone appeared behind her, and she swiftly turned her head to meet him/her face-to-face. Her dark orbs saw that the new person was incredibly massive, and had a tall stature. He was bald, and there was a pair of oval-shaped marks just above his dark eyes. He had a long, thick dark beard that grew from his chin, and that reached below his upper chest in a wavy motif. To top it all off, he was clad in attire that mirrored those of ancient Egyptian or Mayan civilizations.

The man was Jura Neekis, one of the 10 mage saints and a member of Lamia Scale, same as Lyon and Sherry.

The Ul Myria had only a chance to realize who had just appeared on stage, before he held out to of his fingers forward, then said, **"Rockiron Wall."**

It happened in a flash. A large pillar of earth immediately erupted from the ground beneath Ul's feet, and she immediately felt herself being flung upwards by the force of the pillar. Coughing out blood as she felt her inner organs being crushed, she went higher and higher into the sky, the rock having cleanly impaled through her mid-section. Then, it all came to a stop.

Her lifeless body lay atop the rock foundation, and Jura slowly lowered his hand, after making sure of his victory. Looking into the sky where his enemy had been rocketed into, he smiled satisfactorily.

The Myria Ul had just been defeated.

Jura then shifted his gaze back to the ground, where his fellow guild mate lay, and without saying anything; he walked towards him, then flung his frail body over his broad shoulders. Once he had taken Lyon, his eyes then moved forward, catching sight of something peculiar that lay right ahead of him. There was an ice cage that was still lying intact, and Jura moved closer to get a better look of the person that was inside. He was surprised to see that it was the dark-haired mage from Fairy Tail who had shared the same master with Lyon in the past, Gray Fullbuster.

He was in terrible shape, owing to the countless injuries that lay on his body, plus he seemed to be unconscious just like Lyon. Jura then realized that Gray had also faced the same opponent that Lyon had just crossed paths with. He placed a hand on the ice structure, and it fell apart, before he stepped forward then he took the equally frail body of Gray, and flung it over his shoulder. The two ice mages weren't actually as heavy as he had expected them to be.

After he had turned the opposite direction in search of his other guildmate, who was also currently on the island, Sherry Blendy, his ears picked up an odd sound that came from every corner of the forest.

It was a sound akin to the sound of glass shattering. The air in the night sky began cracking, and suddenly it all came crashing down in a flurry of dust-sized pieces of ice. Jura looked into the distant horizon, realizing that the ice barrier that had been cast in the island prior to their arrival here had just come undone. Feeling a bit relieved that the worst had come to pass, since the caster of the magic spell had been defeated, he began walking in the direction of the magic signal that he sensed from Sherry. On sensing closer, he realized that the doll user was not alone, but she was also heading towards where he was, accompanied by one more wizard.

_Outskirts of Magnolia, Natsu and Erza_

"No way." These were the first words that escaped the pink-haired dragon slayer upon sight of his childhood best friend. He pinched himself to ensure that he was not dreaming, and shut his eyes as if to block out a bad nightmare he was just having. Reopening his eyes and releasing his fingers from his cheek, he readjusted his gaze to what lay in front of him, but nothing had changed. There she still stood, the wind blowing and making her short hair ruffle in the breeze. "Lisanna, why are you here?"

The truth was, the events from that day had not yet left his mind. They were still stuck somewhere there, alongside with the many happy and sad memories that he had made as a member of Fairy Tail. As a member of Team Natsu, with Gray, Lucy, Wendy and the girl standing next to him, Erza Scarlet. The girl with whome he was growing unsure of his feelings towards with every second they spent together, but was sure that it was definitely geared more towards lovers than friends. However, still somewhere inside him he had never quite forgotten the first friend that he had made after joining Fairy Tail, in the year X777.

_A younger Natsu was seated on the edge of the bridge that was just outside his new guild. A few days ago, he had barged into the guild hall, the first guild that he had met after he had entered the city of Magnolia. In his fruitless attempts to search for Igneel, Natsu had walked and travelled from the forest that he had lived in with the Flame Dragon King, shouting his name every few meters he walked. "Igneel, where are you? Igneel! Answer me!" The young fire dragon slayer shouted, pausing after every shout to catch his breath and make sure that he did not lose his voice. After all, he still kept up high hopes that his adoptive father would respond to his relentless calls. Igneel had always been there at Natsu's beck and call, so Natsu was confident that this time would not be any different._

_To his utter disappointment, there had not been any sign of the great big red dragon anywhere, and Natsu was beginning to lose hope. Furthermore, he had not met any human beings so far, which meant that he was alone in the forest, along with whatever unexplored dangerous wild animals or magical creatures that lay there. Lucky for him, he had been taught a bit of magic by Igneel, so when worst came to worst, he would be able to defend himself. Besides, he could also prepare something to eat at night, so it wasn't all that bad. However, soon he found himself suffering from the pain of loneliness, as he had spent nearly his entire life with Igneel in the cave that lay deep within the forest. His dad had disappeared without telling him anything, so he was all alone right now. It was impossible for a lone kid to make it alone in the big, bad world, no matter how much magic he knew or how skilled he was at hunting._

_As he tread across the stony path of the forest one afternoon, the merciless rays of sunlight hitting him on his visage, he ran his hand across his face to wipe off a layer of sweat that had been accumulating there for a while. Then, as his hand moved away from his face, his eyes caught sight of a large building. He was shocked, to say the least, and soon he realized that he was standing at the edge of a cliff, and lying just before him was a huge city. It was the city of Magnolia._

_Natsu found himself staring in amazement at the magnificent sight in front of him. It was his first time in being a place that big, and honestly he had not expected it to look so breathtaking, so awe-inspiring, and more importantly, bubbling with life in every corner. Natsu's eyes slowly took in the city's appearance, with his eyes shifting from each and every angle, seeing people walking up and about in the entire city. Some of them were chattering among themselves with joy, others were busy running, carrying suitcases, while some of them stood at various stalls that were placed at different sections of the city, calling out to other customers to try out their foods or buy merchandise from them._

_Magnolia City itself was a large, built-up area, extending over a large, rectangular surface to the shores of Lake Silicora. Splitting the town vertically and horizontally was a series of large roads, and in the middle of the large town, Natsu could make out a large building, which had a cross at its apex, and below the cross was the sign, __**Kardia Cathedral. **_

_However, what caught Natsu's attention the most was an equally large building that stood in the northernmost part of the city, on the shores of Lake Silicora. The building itself had an emblem, and Natsu felt his memory get jogged by the emblem's appearance. He remembered Igneel showing him scrolls regarding Magic Guilds, and in one of the scrolls Natsu had seen an emblem sign similar to the one he was looking at right now. It had been an awfully long time ago, but still he had not forgotten the name of the sign that was underneath the emblem. His eyes shifted downwards, and it was the same name that had been on his mind for a while now. _

"_Fairy Tail." The pink-haired boy said to himself._

_Then, he found himself descending the slope of the cliff which lay on the city walls. Luckily enough for him, the cliff wasn't that steep, so he could risk managing to go along it without sustaining any neck-breaking injuries. As he descended the cliff, thoughts of his dad began to fill up his mind, along with thoughts of the guild he was about to go to, while saying to himself,_

"_Those guys must know something. They're a wizard guild, and dad told me that the magic he was teaching me was Dragon Slayer Magic. I'm sure there must be more of my kind down at that guild. They must have a clue where as to where Igneel is!"Natsu thought to himself, and he felt hope welling up inside him. Maybe, all was not lost after all. He felt the despair that had nested inside him from the previous days slowly dissipate, and in its place, happiness had began brimming inside him. He was about to reunited with his dad, and when his thought crossed his mind, he increased the pace in his steps, each of them taking him closer and closer to Fairy Tail._

_He reached the big oak door that was the guild entrance in less than half an hour, and stopped to catch his breath. He placed his hands on his knees, breathing in and out rapidly, and looked up in victory as he was sure that he had finally reached his destination. His hair was matted in sweat, and his scarf had nearly fallen out of his neck, courtesy of the wind that hit him as he rushed within the streets of Magnolia. Running one hand over his hair to smooth it out, and placing his scarf well on his neck, he took in a huge breath to calm down his nerves, before proceeding to knock on the door of the guild. _

_A moment of silence, then Natsu heard footsteps approaching the door from the other side. His heart thumped furiously in his chest, and he felt his nerves tense up from all the anxiety that he was feeling. This was it, he thought. In a few moments, he would learn about Igneel's location, and would set off for a reunion with his dad._

_The door slowly opened, to reveal a man as short as Natsu. Natsu's eyebrows rose in surprise, for a moment thinking that he had knocked on the wrong door and had probably entered an entirely different building. However, he eyed the man in front of him suspiciously, and noticed that the man had a thick white moustache. He realized that the man was actually older than he looked, since he was mostly bald, with only the outer rims of his head containing the same color of hair that was on his moustache. He was clad in a white shirt that contained the same stamp as the emblem of the guild, which confirmed to Natsu that he was indeed in the right place. His attire was completed with matching orange shorts and an orange and blue stripes designed jester hat._

_Said man was the current master of Fairy Tail, actually the third from when the guild had started, Makarov Dreyar._

_Looking at the young boy that had just appeared before him, Makarov smiled nonchalantly, before saying, "Welcome! Welcome! Young lad, what's wrong? Just get in and you'll tell me what has brought you here today. If you want to join our guild, by all means you're most welcome, but since Mirajane isn't here at the moment, you'll have to wait till she returns for you to be branded with your guild insignia."_

_Natsu was taken aback by the old man's vigor as he told him this, despite his ageing body,a slight blush of embarrassment on his cheeks from the sudden invitation, but he recomposed himself then replied, "Oh no, gramps, I didn't come here to join your guild. But thank you for the offer." Natsu said, trying his best to be as courteous as possible. After all, Igneel had always taught him to be respectable when talking to people older than himself, and he didn't want to disappoint his dad by being so rude to someone he had just met._

_Makarov looked at Natsu slightly surprised, but nonetheless, he said, "Hoho, I see. So what brings you here today? Or do you have a request that you want us to fulfill for you?" The older man asked again, curious as to what Natsu said next. For a while now, all the young kids that had been appearing at the guild's entrance had asked to be admitted to the guild, the latest addition being a brown-haired girl named Cana Alberona. However, the pink-haired boy in front of him did not want anything of that, so he added on," Well, it is some sort of a request. I'm looking for someone, and I was wondering if you could help me find him. He's been gone for a while now, and I've had no luck in finding him."_

_Makarov rubbed his hand through his moustache, then said, with his gaze still fixated on Natsu, "Who is this person you are looking for, young one?"_

"_It's my dad, Igneel, a Fire Dragon."_

_Makarov's eyes nearly popped out of their age-old sockets, and he looked at Natsu to ensure that he wasn't just attempting to crack a really bad joke at the moment. However, the look in Natsu's eyes was a look of dead seriousness, so Makarov realized that he was indeed telling the truth. He had indeed heard of dragons, and he knew that they roamed the earth 400 years ago, but he thought that they had all died out due to extinction. He himself had not received the privilege of meeting a dragon, in all the years that he had lived, and yet this young lad before him had actually met one. He had even gone as far as calling it his dad, meaning that the boy and the dragon had lived together as a family. It was really quite something hearing something like this from the young lad. _

_Lowering his hand from his moustache, he looked at Natsu pensively, then said, "Young lad, what is your name?"  
Natsu looked at him briefly, and then replied, "Natsu. Natsu Dragneel."_

"_I see, he has the same name as his dad. Well that certainly means he's not lying," the guild master thought. However, he felt a feeling of sadness well up in him, as he realized that he could not assist the young man in his endeavor, as much as he wanted to see the kid be reunited with his father. So he shook his head sadly, before saying, "I'm sorry, Natsu, but I haven't seen any sign of your dad anywhere. I can't help you."_

_Natsu felt the hope and happiness that was welling up inside him all come crashing down in a deafening sound. His world nearly shattered, and he felt tears welling up in his eyes, as the last sign of hope that he had just broke down some devastating news to him. He looked at the man in somber manner, and the sad expression on Makarov's face was enough to tell him that he felt genuinely bad that he was not able to assist Natsu at all._

_However, the pink haired dragon slayer realized that it was not yet the end. Yes, it was not the end until one gave up, and even if he had failed in locating his dad here, it was simply a minor setback. Steeling his resolve, he decided that he would move on to the next guild, the next town, until he was dead sure that there was no sign of his dad anywhere. Looking up fiercely at Makarov, whose eyes were still glazed with sadness, he bowed in front of him in gratitude before saying, in a voice full of emotion, "Thank you so much, gramps! I'll just go and look for him elsewhere. Well, it's been a pleasure."_

_At this last statement, Natsu began walking away from the guild building, his footsteps heavy with despondency, before he heard the old man call out to him again," Natsu, do you have anywhere to sleep tonight?"_

_Natsu stopped short of the last stair between the guild building and the path leading up to it, and he looked back in surprise. He wasn't sure what the old man was trying to get at by asking him such a question, "No, I don't. I'll just find a warm bench or a tree that I can get some sleep under."_

"_What about food? What will you do about food?" _

_Natsu was more surprised by the second question than the first, but he replied as truthfully as he had the first time, "I'll go into the lake and look for some fish to eat. Hopefully with any luck I'll be able to find some fish to eat and it will hold my stomach till tomorrow morning."_

_Makarov was looking at Natsu genuinely with worry, since he had never before heard about a kid who fended for himself in the woods at night. He held his hand over his chin in thought, wondering if there was a way around the current situation, when an idea struck him. Yes, there was no way that the boy could refuse such an offer, since it would give him the added advantage of being able to look for his dad easily._

"_Hey kid, if you don't have anywhere to go, why not joins our guild?"  
Natsu's eyebrows arched in surprise, wondering why the old man would bring up this issue a second time after he had clearly turned him down the first time politely._

"_I thought I already said-"_

"_No, listen to me. If you're planning to go around everywhere looking for your dad from now on, you'll need money for transport, and also food plus living expenses. It will be kind of hard getting all that money when you're a small kid such as yourself, so why not become a mage in our guild? You'll be able to make enough money to support yourself, plus you'll be in a comfortable position to look for your dad without having to worry about getting somewhere to sleep, or even how to fill your belly. See, it's not such a bad deal after all," Makarov concluded, trying to convince the young lad in the best way that he knew possible._

_Natsu stood at the bottom stair of the case, his hands crossed over his chest and his eyes closed as he pondered over what Makarov had proposed to him. The old man certainly had a point, it would be better to look for his dad as a mage of an official guild. Besides, his father would probably hear about him once he had become a fully-fledged member of the guild, and probably come back rushing home to the son he left behind. Yes, yes, it wasn't a bad deal, Natsu thought, as he nodded his head in approval._

_He opened his eyes slowly, then after looking up at Makarov again, his mind set, he said, "Well, I guess it's not such a bad deal. I guess I'll become a member of Fairy Tail. But only until I find my dad, okay?"_

_Makarov smiled softly, although he was not happy at the young man's last request. But nonetheless he was happy that he had managed to help him out, even if it was only by a little. He nodded and said, "As you say, Natsu."  
Natsu's eyes then shot wide open in realization, as he realized that he had forgotten something critical. His eyes still fixed on Makarov, he asked._

"_Hey, gramps, what's your name?"  
Makarov let out a hearty laugh, realizing all this time that he had not yet told Natsu his name, so after his laughter had died down, he said, "I'm Makarov Dreyar. The guild master of Fairy Tail. Welcome to Fairy Tail, Natsu Dragneel."_

_And with that, Natsu became a Fairy Tail member, joining the guild where he would make a lot of happy and even bittersweet memories. It was also the guild where he would soon come to meet the girl of his dreams, although he did not know about that yet._

_Later on that night, Natsu sat at the edge of the bridge, lamenting everything that had happened to him on that one day alone. A lot of stuff had happened, and even though he had the guild mark of Fairy Tail embedded into his right shoulder, he still could not believe that he had actually joined a Wizard's guild. The thought had never crossed his mind when he was with Igneel, since he thought that Igneel would stay with him forever, but now things was different. He was different, and the sooner he came to accept that the better things would be for him. It was pouring heavily, and he was soaked to the bone, but he gave it no heed, since his body naturally did not allow him to experience colds. _

_A voice suddenly broke him out of his thoughts, and he looked back to see a young girl approaching him, holding an umbrella. He remembered seeing the young girl in the guild hall that evening once everyone had returned, but he did not bother striking up a conversation with anyone, preferring to be left by him, if it was only for that one night._

_The girl smiled under her umbrella, then said softly, "Natsu…."_

His mind then switched back to the present, before realizing that the girl in front of him was calling out to him in that soft voice. The voice of the first friend he had made when he was still a new member of Fairy Tail. She stood before him once again, this time him being able to get a clearer look on her face as there was no umbrella to block out her face like what had happened the first time he had met her.

"Natsu, why are you just standing around there? You'll get heat stroke if you stay too long in the sun like that, you know," she said to him. There it was again. The voice that belonged to her and her alone, and Natsu all of a sudden found he completely flabbergasted. Something was not right about this. She was not supposed to be here right now. She was dead.

Beside him, however, Erza's expression had remained stoic throughout the entire ordeal they were currently facing. Her initial shock at being reunited with a man she saw die in front of her, plus the little sister of her rival, who had also passed away a few years back, had faded away, leaving in its place anger and resentment. She was sure that there was no way that both of the people in front of her could still be alive, so this was definitely a trick by the enemy. Something to confuse them, and throw them into disarray, and completely snuff out their fighting spirit. After all, it was never really easy to face your loved ones in battle, be they deceased or not. However, currently there was something else that gnawed away at the corners of her heart, and she slowly turned her face to look at the man who was rooted to the ground next to her.

Erza had seen the way Natsu was looking at Lisanna. His eyes held so much affection for their comrade, and Erza felt something painful sting in her. How could she have been so blind to see it? All those times those two snuck away into the woods and into the house they had built for themselves in the forest, how Natsu blushed so easily at the slightest tease by the white-haired girl, and then the baby that the two had raised together. Happy. She had been so focused on Lucy that she had even completely overlooked the relationship that Natsu used to have with Lisanna when she was still in the guild.

When she was a kid, she had been so focused on training that she really didn't pay much attention to what happened around her guild mates. Choosing to keep to herself in a lone corner of the guild hall, she used to watch the events before her unfold without really giving too much thought into it. Then, she slowly started breaking the wall which she had built between herself and others, and managed to finally befriend everyone in the guild. Of course, Natsu included. However, what she felt for the pink head back then and what she felt for him right now were two completely separate feelings.

And yet, Natsu had divulged to her that he was beginning to have feelings for someone special. Erza had genuinely felt back then that she probably had a fighting chance, but now, she was not so sure anymore. Mira had once told her that most people usually took the things that were important to them for granted, only to realize their worth again when they were out of their reach. Maybe, this was what was happening to Natsu. Ever since that day when the news had reached him about Lisanna's death. He must have realized by then how much the girl meant to him, but it was too late. Still, he must have continued to love her, even after all this time.

Then, it all hit Erza in a flash. She had fallen for Natsu, and the feelings that she was experiencing toward Lisanna were feelings of envy. How could she have been so dumb all this time? All along, the event at the camp, the incident at the waterfall and now this. It all made perfect sense now. Feelings of jealousy, since she could probably never have what Lisanna already had with her for a long time. Natsu's heart. She felt tears slowly making their way down her face, but she quickly wiped them away. _No, stop it,_ she told herself. This wasn't the time to display weakness, since they were in the presence of their enemy. She had to be strong here. For herself. For Natsu's sake.

Slowly, Lisanna began walking towards Natsu, her pace similar to that of a snail. She was smiling right now, the same bright smile that she always had within the guild, and the smile that managed to brighten her siblings' days whenever they were feeling down in the dumps. Natsu saw her inching closer and closer to him, and for a second, he wanted to step back. But he had missed her company so much, no matter how many months and years had passed. He still missed her after all this time. The memory of the time when he had heard the news about her death resurfaced in his mind, and he remembered the Fairy Tail members saying that there was nothing left of her body. Maybe, she had always been here, waiting for someone to find her.

Lisanna opened her mouth again to speak, this time standing a few feet away from Natsu, "Did you have a hard time without me, Natsu?" Then she winked at him, chuckled a little, and quickly wrapped him in an embrace.

Erza watched the entire event unfolding between the two with a sad expression in her face. Now that she had realized the full extent of her feelings, it only hurt the more and more, as she watched Lisanna acting like she always had with Natsu. It hurt more than she wished to express, seeing the two of them like this, and slowly, she felt her eyes giving way to more tears. This time, however, she was too exhausted to fight back. She let the tears fall freely to the ground, expressing the words that she could not say.

**A/N: **Well, there is Chapter 10 guys, after an entire day and a half of typing. Okay, I think I overdid some parts a little, but all in all I did manage to make this chapter really long, so I hope that you guys will bear with anything that went wrong in the Chapter. As usual, read and don't forget to review!


	11. Save You

**Chapter 10.5**

**Save You**

"_Did you have a hard time without me, Natsu?"_

The words echoed in Natsu's mind again. That was all the confirmation he needed to know that Lisanna was here. She was right here with him. Alive. Well and Kicking. Realizing this made him feel a bit happier inside, and suddenly joy began to well up in him.

A smile began to break out on his lips, a small and hearty smile. Suddenly, it seemed like all those years he had spent without the presence of his best friend were all deemed non-existent, and were all part of a long nightmare. A nightmare from which he was waking up at this moment.

Beside him, however, Erza was in turmoil. Her heart was thrown into disarray, both by her realization of her feelings for her pink-haired friend, and also by the scene that was slowly unfolding in front of her. Lisanna Strauss had hugged Natsu with such force that it nearly knocked him over. And Natsu? Well, he had done nothing of the sort to push her off him, but had instead accepted her hug without any objections whatsoever. This, to her, was proof that Natsu loved her as much as she had loved him, and it was honestly too much for her frail heart to handle. A few moments earlier, she was beginning to have hoped that maybe; just maybe; she had a chance at winning over the pink-haired dragon slayer. And that all came crashing down on her with this one moment.

She was not surprised at the tears that flowed down her cheeks at this point. Maybe it would help her feel better, she thought, as she made no attempt to wipe away her tears. Well, no one was watching her anyway, with Natsu and Lisanna being occupied with each other's company, so she wouldn't have had to answer to anyone as to why there were streams that were flowing down her eyes at this moment.

She _thought_ that no one was watching her.

"Erza, what's wrong? You're crying."

His voice was the last thing that she had expected to hear at this point in time.

In an act of protecting her own heart more than anything, she had turned her head to the side, looking towards the horizon from where she had appeared with her pink-haired teammate. She had not realized this, however, so she found herself turning her head to stare into those black eyes that he had. Natsu was staring at Erza with an odd expression in his face, and it took Erza a few minutes to realize that he had worry etched into his expression at the moment. Natsu, who still had Lisanna wrapped around his waist and her arms rested on his back, was looking over her petite frame and at the Exquip wizard.

_Why?_

Why he was still worried about her? Even after Lisanna had openly expressed her affections to him, he was still worried about her wellbeing.

_Don't._

_Don't look at me._

_Don't look at me like that._

Erza wanted to scream at him these words that were currently in her heart. He couldn't do this to her. After all he had done to break her heart, he couldn't do this to her right now. It was like applying spirit to an open wound. The sensation stung her already bleeding heart, and for a moment, she held her gaze locked with Natsu's gaze, no words spoken between the two friends.

_Stop, don't do this to me._

Then, a second voice spoke up in the air, alerting Erza to the presence of another enemy, who had been there for quite some time actually.

"Erza-chan, how are you?"

It was Rob's voice. Erza was a bit surprised that she had forgotten about the presence of the old man, after all that had happened in front of her. She had let her emotions get into the way of her work, something which she had decided to herself that she wouldn't let happen ever again. Ever since the Tower of Heaven. Natsu had given her a new lease on life, and she had decided that she would not make any more mistakes like that. Not now. Not ever.

She turned her face, which was devoid of all the tears, to look into the old man's face. He had his hands behind his back, an old habit he had and had refused to die even as time went by. His eyes were shut, as he stared at the three young mages before him. Rob was a man of few words, and he barely said anything, choosing mostly to observe what was happening in his surroundings. He only tended to intervene whenever the matter concerned him. Such as when he had jumped in front of Erza to save her from those guards at the R-Tower when they had attacked the inmates after plans of a mass break-out had leaked to the higher-ups. He had sacrificed her life for hers, and if it wasn't for that Erza would not be here right now.

This made something tick in Erza's mind. She had seen the old man get blown into smithereens in front of her very eyes. So how was he here in front of her now? No. There was something horribly wrong about this. Whatever had happened was intended to create as much effect as if the real people were present here with them. She stared at the old man serenely, while he continued looking at her with the same fond expression that he had always looked at her with.

"_Yes, everything begins from you believing with your heart. You can think of tarots, faith, prayer, and such as Magic. It's a miracle that only true believers can experience. Only those who believe that Magic exists, believe in themselves, and believe that they can coexist with everything in nature can use such a thing as Magic."_

Erza's memories swam back in time to when she was with Rob in the tower of Heaven, in that cell which she shared with her old friends; Jellal, Simon, Sho, Milliana and Wally. She had just met the old man, and she was surprised at what he had told her. He always kept to himself within the cell, and didn't say much, so she did not expect him to say such an insightful and wise thing to her out of the blue.

Ever since then, she spent most of her time with the old man, expressing her wishes and ambitions about the life she would lead as a wizard once she had left that prison. She had felt happiness for the first time ever since she had been brought there as a prisoner, and it had all stemmed from the old man himself. He had taken a special place in her heart, a place where she kept all the people who she held dear to herself.

"_I never thought I could see a smile like that…in a place like this. Freedom is in your heart."_

It was these words that gave Erza the will to live each and every day, even after she had left that hellhole. She had constant nightmares of the place, and there were times that she felt like giving up on life altogether. However, while she roamed the deserts, looking for the guild named "Fairy Tail", which Rob had informed her off, it was these words that enabled her to carry on, and pursue onwards with life, something that she was finding really difficult to do at the moment.

"_When I grow up, I want to become a witch and ride a broom and fly in the sky!"_

"_And I'll let you ride too, Gramps!"_

Erza had made this promise to him, but had failed to deliver on it. She felt guilt-ridden about it, as she had not managed to do anything in return for the old man, after all that he had done for her. He died before she could thank him properly for all that he had done for them while they were still prisoners. That much she was sure of. So then, who was the old man that was currently in front of her?

_Who are you?_

She asked the old man in front of her, mentally, as she did not think outwardly voicing the question would assist her in getting a desirable reply. Her eyes darted between the old man who was ahead of her, and the young, petite girl, who still had Natsu locked in an embrace. Wait. This was weird. Hugs with long-lost friends, were not supposed to last this long. Even though hearts were reunited and long lost feelings made their way to the surface after being subdued for so painfully long, this was quite unnatural. Besides, even as you embraced the one who you had yearned for a long time, wouldn't it be natural to at least engage in conversation even whilst in physical contact with your significant other? All that Lisanna had said since she had appeared before the two mages was one sentence.

"_Did you have a hard time without me?"_

Erza replayed the words over and over again in her mind, wondering if they held any real significance. Then, her eyes widened in exasperation. It all made sense now. Those words were meant to ensnare Natsu, to give him the false sense of hope that he had acquired after a reunion with his longtime friend, and to eliminate any suspicions he had over the intentions of the two who had appeared before him. Natsu was dense as a rock, so the strategy would obviously work on him, but Erza had seen through it completely. Lisanna's objective was to create an opening with which she could get close enough to Natsu, and then attack him via any means she saw fit. It would be almost impossible for Natsu to dodge any blow from point-blank range.

Then, it happened in a flash. Erza saw the faint trace of a grimace appear on Lisanna's face, while she was still snuggled into Natsu's chest, and realized that the old Lisanna would have never made an expression like that. Even if she was angry at anyone in the guild, she always did her best to smooth things out over with them. She never made any grimaces that looked as if she was planning to take any revenge on them. This was _not_ Lisanna.

Erza saw the slight movement of one of the hands that was enclosed around Natsu's back, and it dawned on her that Lisanna was making her strike. She felt her legs slowly leave the ground where they had been rooted a while ago, and her arms stretched out in front of her, as her mouth opened to shout a warning to her teammate….

Natsu was currently enjoying the warm embrace of his long-lost friend, a flurry of things racing through his mind that he wished to talk to her about once she had finally gotten herself of him and she was in a position to talk. However, she did not look as if she was ready to let go anytime soon, as her arms were wrapping tighter and tighter around the man's waist. This was all well and in order, but Natsu began to feel him get crushed under the pressure of the embrace. This was odd. Lisanna did not have this much strength contained within her petite frame, this strength belonged to her beloved elder brother, Elfman Strauss. So where did all this strength originate from? She looked as if she was not ready to let him go, but for what purpose? Natsu tried looking at Lisanna, whose hair was currently a breath away from his mouth, but could not see her face properly, courtesy of her snowy hair. At first, Natsu thought that she did not want him to see her face, as she was probably shedding tears of despondency after their overdue reunion. This was odd. Lisanna was never one to hide away any emotions that she openly displayed, whenever she cried, she did it in a way that Natsu could get a better look of her face, so that he could see the sincerity in her emotions, and not just the tears that were falling down her face. So, just what was she doing that she did not want him to see?

Then, Natsu felt a sudden rush of wind behind his back, and the next thing he knew, he was looking into the eyes of Erza, and the looks she had was one of ferocity. She looked as if she was ready to murder someone, and for a second Natsu thought that she was about to gut him for being so overly affectionate with his old friend while they were in the middle of the enemy base. He felt a cold sweat break on his face and slide down his cheeks, and raised his hands to defend himself, before he saw Erza's hand outstretched next to him. She was not holding him, but rather, something that was behind him. Natsu's eyes slowly travelled backwards as he laid eyes on Erza's hand currently enclosed around….

"_A talon?"_

Natsu mouthed the words in an attempt to make light of the current situation. Lisanna's right hand was currently in the shape of a talon, and it was only inches away from sinking itself into Natsu's back. This was bizarre, to say the least. Well, not because Lisanna's hand had morphed itself into the shape of a talon, since this was well within her abilities, her magic being **Take Over Magic (Animal Soul), **meaning she was able to take on the property of any animal that was within her arsenal (including birds), but she was about to sink her talons into Natsu's back. Into the spot right above his heart, where it was certain to prove instant death for the pink-haired man. But…._why? _It was then that Natsu, being aware of Erza's timely arrival to parry the hand away, realized that the scarlet-haired woman had just saved his life.

"Let go of him."

The words were cold, calculating, and carried a sheer amount of malice that were directed to the white-haired woman that still had her face buried into Natsu's chest. Erza meant business at this point, as she realized that all the turmoil that she had felt before had been a result of the enemy's elaborate and well-set out plan. Had this been part of their intention with Erza? If Rob had not managed to dampen her nerves of steel completely, was Lisanna meant to completely eradicate whatever resistance she had left towards the enemy, by using Erza's feelings for Natsu against her? The mere thought of this made Erza feel sick to her stomach, and her grip on Lisanna's talon strengthened. If this was the case, it meant that the enemy knew everything there was to know about Erza and Natsu, even the relationship between them? How though?

Immediately, Lisanna let out a cackled laughter and with a great leap backwards, released herself forcefully from Erza's iron grip, finally gracefully landing next to her companion, Rob. She slowly rubbed the area where Erza's hand was previously, and restored her talon back to its normal human state. There were red bruises on the area where she had rubbed tenderly.

"Well well well, I have to hand it to you, Erza Scarlet. Your reputation certainly does precede you. Only an S-class wizard could manage to make it in time to stop that blow, so I'll give you credit in regards to that alone," Lisanna spoke up, breaking the tension that had been in the air after the white-haired girl's botched attempt to finish off Natsu.

Meanwhile, the pink-haired man was still bewildered by all that had transpired in that short frame of time. He had narrowly escaped death, and coupled with that, had fallen dangerously deep into an enemy trap. A well-designed trap, at that. If Erza had not been with him, he would have been lying on the ground, dead. He gulped a little, the cold sweat that was on his face previously all disappearing. All of a sudden, he felt angry. His blood began to boil, as he felt as if the memory of his best friend had been tainted. She was long gone, and yet, whatever foe they were facing had decided to make her part of his sick plans to throw Natsu's mental state into disarray. The thought sickened Natsu to his bone, and unbeknownst to him, the red-haired knight who was beside him felt very much the same way he did. His teeth gritted, he turned his gaze to look at the two enemies that were currently in his field of vision.

_They were going to pay for this. 100 times over._

Then, turning to the red-haired knight who was beside him, he looked at her in a tender manner, and his mouth broke out into the stupid grin that she had seen so many times before. It was one of the things that she loved so much about him. A smile, that even in her darkest times, told her that everything would be okay. That he would definitely make everything okay. His mouth opened up ever so slowly, and then he told her three words.

"Thank you, Erza."

It was these words, more than anything else that day, which made Erza suddenly feel so at peace with herself. The turmoil that had started inside her slowly died down, and she suddenly felt a rush of red fill her cheeks. She turned her face away from Natsu, and then replied, "It was nothing really. Besides, think of it as payback for saving me at the bridge when I was falling. So yeah, no big deal."

"You just saved my life Erza. From one of the biggest mistakes that I've ever made in my life. I don't think that counts as "no big deal."

There was something in Natsu's voice that Erza seldom heard, no matter how many years of friendship stood between her and the pink-haired dragon slayer. He was being serious right now, and Erza knew without looking at his face, that the grin which had been on his visage when he had thanked her earlier had just disappeared. In its place, was a graver look? The same look that he had when he had taken down Jellal Fernandes.

She turned her gaze towards Natsu again, the red stain on her cheeks evidently gone at this point. She wanted to show him that she too, was as serious as he was, that she meant what she was going to say next to him.

"You don't have to thank me Natsu. I'll always be there to save you. That's something I can guarantee with my life."

_Yes, this is the life you gave me, and I promise I would give it up for you in a heartbeat._

The two of them then turned their eyes to their opponents, who were looking at them with discerning glares. They had let Natsu and Erza talk for this long without interfering in their conversation in anyway, which meant they were confident enough that they could take them down if they wanted to. This made Erza feel more enraged at their opponents, and she held her hand into a balled fist, to contain all the anger that had been pent up inside her. Attacking her opponents in a fit of anger would only give them the upper hand, and Erza was not going to let them have that, at any cost.

She turned her face to Natsu, and saw the same determined look that she had in her eyes also etched into his. He was ready to charge in at any point. He was never really one to exercise caution, Erza reminded herself, as she let a small chuckle escape her lips. So she wanted to tell him one last thing, before the duo charged into battle with their foes.

"Hey Natsu?"

"Yeah, Erza?"

"There's something I want to tell you. Something important. After this job request is over. Will you listen to me then?"

Natsu immediately realized that there was a strange tone in Erza's voice. It was a voice that carried a sense of urgency, as if she had been meaning to say this for a while now. How could he say no to that?

"Well, sure. I'll listen to you."

"Thanks, Natsu."

She was smiling.

"And Erza?"

Erza was taken aback by Natsu's sudden call of her name. He sounded as if he had something more to tell her, and she herself had thought that nothing more would be said between the two of them after this. So she felt a bit curious as to what he would say.

"Yeah ,Natsu?"

"Stay alive. If you die, I'll be sad. I think I'll probably drag you back from the dead if you probably did."

There it was. Natsu always went to immeasurable lengths to retrieve Erza, even trying to extract her from the R-Tower after she had already decided to sacrifice herself to save her friends. He disguised himself as Erza and even spent a whole night in the cells of the Magic Council with Erza, after breaking into the middle of her trial. He would go to the ends of the earth for her, a fact which he was not ashamed to admit. She felt something tugging at her heart strings. Happiness.

"I promise I will. You have to live on too, Natsu."

"Of course!"

Everything suddenly seemed so much better between the two of them. And with those final words from Natsu, they both charged into battle, their opponents Rob and Lisanna.

**A/N:** First of all I would like to apologize for the length of this chapter, I know it's really shorter compared to the length of the previous one, but with this chapter I wanted to give a small teaser for the incoming battle between Natsu, Erza and the two Myria before them who have assumed Lisanna and Rob's appearance. So I hope you all forgive me but I promise the next chapter will be longer. This chapter was but a teaser, hence the title "Chapter 10.5." I hope you guys enjoy it, plus don't forget to read and review! Love y'all!


	12. Layla HeartFilia

**Chapter 11**

**Layla HeartFilia**

Surprised was definitely an understatement for what Lucy HeartFilia was feeling at that moment in time. She was scared out of her wits, with the sight of her late mother appearing before her. She had not expected a reunion with her mother ever since the day that she had passed away, and even if by a stroke of luck she would meet her mom again (she had come to believe that magic was boundless and not bound by the laws that bound normal humans), it was certainly not in such a fashion. She looked at her mother, realizing that she had not changed one bit since that tragic day when she passed away laying on her deathbed. Nostalgia and a strange feeling of happiness threatened to take over her as she took in her mother's physical features.

Layla HeartFilia was a beautiful young woman. She had soft brown eyes, along with long blonde hair, which she usually wore in a bun along with a lacy baby pink band with ruffles on its edges which rests on her hair with her flicks and strands of hair framing her face. This was a slight contrast to her daughter's hairstyle, since Lucy herself preferred to keep her shoulder length blonde hair tied by ribbons in a variety of colors in a small ponytail to the right side of her head, with the rest of her hair loose. She was the spitting image of her daughter, who just stood across the road opposite them, such that Levy for a moment thought that maybe the woman was Lucy's long lost twin sister.

Looking straight at her daughter and her best friend who was just standing next to her, Layla HeartFilia smiled at the two mages. Levy poised herself, being prepared for any incoming attacks that would come from their enemy, as she had no idea what the older woman's magic was. Lucy herself had no idea that her mom was a mage, since shortly after she had passed away; her dad had called her into his study and given her his mom's keys. Jude HeartFilia told her that she would have wanted Lucy to have the keys, and before she could ask any more questions he released her from his study, not saying a word further. When she grew older, the Water Bearer Gate had opened to reveal Aquarius, from one of the keys handed down to her by her mother, and since that moment she had learnt Celestial Spirit Magic. However, she had not told anyone else regarding the fact that her mother had been a Celestial Spirit Mage, instead choosing to keep the fact well hidden within the confines of her house.

"Oh my, Lucy dear. My sweet, sweet daughter. You've grown into a wonderful woman," the older blonde woman said, after studying Lucy for an entire minute. Lucy's eyes widened in surprise, as she became painfully familiar with the voice of her mother, a voice that she had grown up listening to each and every moment before all that was painfully torn away from her. It was this voice that had lulled her to sleep as a baby, and every time she had come back home after playing out in the yard with her dolls, it was this same voice that had welcomed her into the house and allowed her to speak about how wonderful her time outside had been. The smile that she had donned before opening her mouth to speak to her daughter had been the same smile on her mom's face every time she wanted to congratulate her daughter on a job well done. The powerful sense of nostalgia and happiness that Lucy had felt earlier upon seeing her mother again threatened to overwhelm her again this time, before her blue haired best friend spoke up beside her, harshly bringing her back to reality.

"Lu-chan, don't fall for it. If you are feeling confused and conflicted right now then it means the Myria has done a good job at taking over your mom's body, and in addition, her memories and her thoughts. Don't let it fool you, because no matter how much that thing resembles your mother, it's not. Your mother already passed away a long time ago, right before your very eyes!" Levy completed her statement, with a tone higher than she had started her explanation. She was getting increasingly agitated at the sight of her friend getting flustered by such an obvious attempt by the enemy to fool them. Still, she could understand just how much Lucy's heart was in turmoil. Being reunited with one's mother, even if they had passed away ages ago, was an emotionally powerful moment for any kid.

Lucy, who had barely heard what Levy had said beside her, was too engrossed at the sight of her mother ahead of them, who had not dropped the smile that had graced her face once she had said her first words after taking on her current form. Somewhere in her heart, she knew that all that was happening at the present was not supposed to be happening, taking heed of her best friend's words to her earlier regarding the enemy that had appeared before them. But still, a small part of her wished, prayed that all that was happening at the moment was real. Not a figment of her imagination, but real. That her mother had by some means miraculously survived the disease that had ravaged her body all those years ago, and by a turn of fate she had managed to find her daughter again, after she had lived all those years without her dearest mother by her side. Lucy felt a tear sliding down her cheek, as she recalled something that her mom had told her all those years ago as she was reading her a bedtime story.

"_You know, Lucy, even miracles themselves are part of magic."_

Perhaps what was happening before her eyes then was a miracle, Lucy thought, as she felt herself become heavy with emotion, both happy and sad emotions.

The Myria had been keenly observing the expressions that donned Lucy HeartFilia's face with each action it took, and after realizing that it was succeeding in unnerving the Celestial Spirit Mage, it smiled deviously inwardly. After all, there was probably no love more powerful than a mother's love in the whole entire world, regardless of whether a person was a mage or a human.

With these thoughts in mind, Layla HeartFilia took her next course of action, which involved would finally seal the deal and finish off Lucy HeartFilia's resolve to fight, plus render her at her mercy. Of course, there was still the small issue regarding Lucy's best friend, Levy McGarden, although according to the information it had regarding the Solid Script user, she wasn't that adept of a fighter. It probably would take her less effort to get rid of her than it would Lucy. She spread out her arms, as wide as humanly possible, that for a moment Levy wondered what on earth she was doing. Levy thought that she was purposely letting her guard down in order to allow the two girls to attack her, and she was about to take her up on the offer, before the Myria opened its mouth again to speak.

"Come on dear, why don't you give momma a hug?" Layla spoke again to her daughter, and Levy realized that it was intent on carrying through with this false act till the end, and she became a bit irate with the enemy. There was no need to carry on with this act when it could have well attacked them and engaged them in battle. However, it made complete sense; a magical species such as them whose specialty involved taking the form of the person who was dearest to you prior to their death probably reveled in the pleasures of tormenting you emotionally with their memories till you broke down psychologically. Once you broke down, you were at your most vulnerable point, regardless of whether you were the most powerful wizard on the continent or the weakest member of some unknown guild that lay in the countryside. And then that's when they would move in for the kill. It was a pretty despicable fighting method, but since it was a method that provided the highest chance of success in a battle, Levy had to admit it was a pretty crafty method.

Besides Levy, her best friend had slowly begun moving her feet forwards, walking towards the object of her affections, her mother. That last action was the straw that had finally broke the camel's back.

_Her mother always used to spread her arms like that to let her daughter dive into them whenever she had gotten a bad dream and had wanted to sleep with her parents. Each time she had slowly opened the room to her parents door, she had found her mom still seated awake at her study locker, glossing over some books that she had just taken from the family library downstairs. Layla HeartFilia was a woman who loved to read. Her mom would then break her gaze away from the book she was currently looking over at that moment, then once she had gotten wind of her daughter's presence at her door, the serious expression that was on her face moments ago would slowly melt into a smile, before taking off her reading glasses and then turning to her daughter._

"_Another bad dream?" Her mom's voice would suddenly reach Lucy's ears._

_The small girl, who was still holding the door knob to her parents' door, and looked as if she was ready to break down and cry that moment, meekly nodded in response to her mother's question. Afterwards, there was silence between mother and daughter, occasionally broken by her father's noisy snores in the bed beside her mom's study table. _

_Her mom assessed her daughters features, and then before even any of them could say anything farther, her mom would spread her arms wide. Each time she did it, the smile on her daughter's face always worth it. Lucy would then leap into her mothers' arms, and then Layla would sing her daughter a soft lullaby, sending her daughter into the world of her sweetest dreams and desires_.

Her mind breaking her out of her nostalgia and returning her to the present, she realized, with a foreboding sense of elation, that the woman before her had just repeated the same gesture that her mother had done to her so many times before in the past. Her facial expression as she waited for her daughter to leap into her arms and cry her eyes out over how lonely she had been without her mother around only added to the weight of the situation. For a fleeting moment, Lucy had wondered why her mother had done such an act, but then came to a conclusion that her mother had probably felt sorry about the fact that she had left her daughter alone after all those years, without her affection and love. True enough, any mother would feel terrible if their daughter had been left alone after all that time, and it would take a lot of time and a really long heart-to-heart talk so as to set things right between mother and daughter. Layla was taking the first step towards repairing her overdue relationship with her daughter, and Lucy could not explain the joy that overwhelmed her at that moment. The tears that now flowed freely down her cheeks were testament to the happiness she had inside her at that moment.

Just as Lucy was a stone's throw away from her mother, and the Myria had already began formulating the next stage of her plan (how she would end Levy McGarden), assured of its victory in its mind, the tranquil atmosphere that had been in the air around the three women was suddenly broken by the blue haired girl.

"**Solid Script:Fire!" **

Immediately, the fire that had appeared out of the words she had encrypted in mid air made their way to the Myria, and accidentally, Lucy, who was also in the path of the attack. Levy had had enough of the enemy's mind games on her best friend. They were working too perfectly and her best friend had already began falling into the trap that had been laid all too well, with one more step she would have fallen right into the enemy's clutches, and subsequently to her demise. There was no way she was going to lose Lucy now. She had to take action by herself. Believing that her best friend would be able to get out of her attack just in time before it made contact with her body and incinerated her, Levy launched one of her signature spells.

She was right to trust in Lucy. The blonde girl became aware of the spell that had just been cast by her best friend, and moments before she took the full brunt of the attack on her back, she jumped out of the way, allowing the attack to go on a one-way course to attack her mother. As she hit the ground, she realized that she had just failed to protect her mother, and turned to face the woman as she was engulfed by the heat from Levy's spell. Lucy was about to open her mouth to call for her mother to jump out of the way and evade Levy's spell, when she saw something that made her heart leap a little.

The woman she had thought to be her mother, grinned deviously as the fire approached her in a steady trail, and then she made a swift motion with her hand. There was a ball of water that emerged from the position where Lucy's mother had made her quick hand motion, and the water ball received the full brunt of Levy's attack. There was a large cloud of steam, and as Lucy was trying to take in her surroundings and find out where she had to move, a light pair of arms whisked her away from the steam, and she felt herself being pulled backwards. She flailed her arms around in an attempt of resistance, but once she found herself able to see clearly and breathe the air she had been inhaling prior to Levy's attack and her mother's counter-spell, she realized that it was her best friend who had pulled her backwards. Then it all hit her in one shocking wave of realization and truth.

That grin that the woman who she had been walking towards earlier had on her visage was an expression she had never seen on her mother's face before. She had seen her mother's facial expressions lots of times in the past, even when her mother had been annoyed with something that Lucy had done, for example breaking a dish or a cup as she helped their maids do their work, or when she got worried as Lucy fell sick and had to stay in for the day as the nurse looked at her condition. However, never before had she grinned like that, as though she were preparing to do something underhanded. Her mother was the ball of sunshine in her life, a woman that she had associated with only the sweetest and best things in life. A grin like that definitely did not suit her. Levy's words earlier then reverberated within her mind, and she realized that the woman before her was by no account her loving mother. It was a fake.

"Snap out of it, Lu-chan!" Levy shouted, as her grip on her best friend's shoulders tightened. She had been delighted that Lucy had time to jump out of the way of her incoming attack, although she certainly had not expected the enemy to counteract her spell in that way. It had come as a surprise of sorts, although she also viewed it as an advantage in another way. With this, Lucy could finally be snapped out of her reverie and finally get it into her head what Levy had been telling her all along.

Underneath her grip, the blonde woman slowly raised her hand and placed it on top of Levy's hand. Levy was mildly surprised by Lucy's gesture, although when Lucy pressed her hand lightly on Levy's hand, the blue-haired woman realized that Lucy was expressing her appreciation to her for snapping her out of the enemy's trap she had fallen into, plus not giving up on her until the last minute. Levy smiled lightly at her best friend, before helping to bring her up to her feet. Lucy was finally on her feet just as the last of the steam that had been lingering in the atmosphere dissipated, finally clearing their line of vision.

"Did you realize it? Just then, to counter my **Fire **spell, she had drawn out a silver key and from it she released a Water spell. It looked like one of the keys you usually have in your pouch," Levy informed her best friend, once she realized that all the doubt on her face had cleared. Truth was, Levy had also used her magic in that situation so as to confirm the abilities of their opponent. The results were not what she had expected to find, although now she had an idea of what her enemy's abilities were like. She seemed to use Celestial Spirit Magic, similar to Lucy.

Lucy nodded to her friend's question, having taken note of the quick hand movement that the woman had used prior to counterattacking Levy. However, she was a bit perplexed. Not only had the woman had a Silver Key, it seemed to be a battle type Silver key, and those were apparently even harder to obtain than golden keys. How did this opponent gain such a rare artifact?

As if reading her mind, the Myria currently in the shape of her mother contorted her face into a mask of amusement. She looked absolutely hideous at the moment, completely nothing like the woman who she had imitated to perfection earlier. Since her façade had been seen through however, she realized that there was no need to keep up with the act. She brandished her key in front of her in a way that both Lucy and Levy could see it, before talking in a completely callous manner, absolutely different from her angelic voice earlier," Curious about how I have such a key in my possession, Lucy? I'll tell you, since it seems your mother didn't exactly give you all the details regarding Celestial Spirit Magic when she was alive. During my time as a mage, before I fell in love with your father, I was one of the most powerful Celestial Spirit Mages around. Powerful mages like me and Karen Lilica from Blue Pegasus," Lucy raised an eyebrow at this, remembering what Loke had told her regarding his former status as one of Karen's Golden keys before he rejected her as his master and this subsequently leading to her death," were recruited into an organization to protect Magnolia. The Magic Council had seen the good work that our organization had had carried out so far in dealing with all the threats that came to Magnolia, then they decided to reward us by giving each one of us battle-type Silver Keys. Supposedly, these keys were rarer than the 12 Zodiac ones, so we accepted them gracefully," Layla HeartFilia concluded her explanation regarding why she had a battle type Silver Key.

Lucy and Levy stared at the woman, taking in each and every word she was saying, and realizing that she was speaking from the account of Layla HeartFilia's memories. Lucy was surprised, she had never heard of such a tale before, but then she realized that her mother had not told her much of anything regarding her life as a Wizard, instead opting to focus on her life as a mother and wife. Loke too had not told her about this, feeling that it was unimportant in relation to the fact that he was disappearing and only had a few moments left to spend with his friends in Fairy Tail. Still, it did not change her feelings towards her mother whatsoever, but it was a learning experience for her, as she realized she did not know her mother as well as she had thought.

The blonde girl then turned to Levy, and her best friend nodded at her in order to confirm her suspicion. Her mother had just tried to kill her earlier on, however, she still held the same memories that the real one did while she was still alive, meaning that there was no reason for her or Levy to hold back anymore. Poising her to charge into battle, she silently muttered to her best friend, responding to the feeling of guilt that had slowly enveloped her after disregarding her best friend's earlier warning regarding the Myria.

"Sorry, Levy-chan. You had to save me from a silly mistake I made," she said to her best friend, a remorseful expression written on her face at the moment.

Levy was taken aback with her friends' sudden apology, not expecting to hear something like that from her. While it was true that Lucy had screwed up, Levy did not exactly hold it against her or anything. The blonde girl did not have to apologize. She shot a tender smile towards her best friend, before reassuring her, "Don't worry about it Lu-chan. It happens to the best of us." She then got a cheeky idea in her mind, and decided to inform her friend in order to be able to get something worthwhile once their fight was over, "Once this fight is over though, you get to treat me to something I like." She added, and then winked at Lucy.

Lucy sighed in defeat, and realized that this was Levy they were talking about here. There was no way that she was going to let her off the hook that easily, so she had no choice but to comply. Thrusting her hand in her pocket and drawing out one of her Celestial Keys, she shouted at Levy, "Hell yeah!" The two then stood back to back against each other, prepared to attack the enemy that stood before them.

"I think it would be a better idea to tag-team on her since I am getting kind of famished here, what's say you to that, Levy-chan?" The blonde mage added on to her earlier acceptance to Levy's bet. Levy smiled beside her, then said," We've never actually tried it before, but well, it is worth a try. Let's kick ass, Lu-chan!"

_On the Outskirts of Magnolia_

"**Roar of the Fire Dragon!" **A certain pink-haired Dragon Slayer shouted at the top of his lungs, and a stream of fire moved from his mouth to attack his newly identified opponents. Beside him, Erza Scarlet was a tad surprised by his sudden attack, not expecting him to charge into the attack so quickly once he had set his sights on taking down his opponents. Still, this was Natsu, the same person who always charged in head first into battles, so she could not say she had not seen this side of him before.

Rob and Lisanna quickly moved to the side to dodge his attacks, and immediately, taking advantage of how open they were at the moment, Erza immediately thrust forward with her sword materializing in her arms, and went for the female amongst the two. Figuring that Natsu would still have a difficult time fighting an opponent that bore the same face as the girl that he had been exceptionally close to all those years ago in the guild, Erza decided to relieve him off his burden by attacking and fighting Lisanna in his stead. Stealing a glance behind her to see that Natsu was okay with whatever decision she had taken, she was glad to see that he had gotten out of his original position and had decided to attack Grandpa Rob. She smiled to herself, glad that he was thinking on the same wavelength as her, and also happy that he had taken on her burden of fighting the same face that had been really nice to her in her time spent within the Tower of Heaven.

Wasting no time in giving her opponent a chance to recompose her, she donned her **Heaven's Wheel Armor, **and shouted "**Heaven's Wheel: Blumenblatt!" **She then proceeded to charge at Lisanna with two of her swords in tow, preparing to slice her. However, once she had reached the white haired girl, there was a bright light that enveloped her, and her swords were suddenly stopped in mid-motion. She realized that they had been held in place by two extremely large paws, and focusing her eyes ahead of her, she realized that Lisanna had used her Take-Over Magic. **Animal Soul: Bear. **It was certainly a wise choice, since bears had extraordinary power in their limbs, so it wasn't exactly impossible for a creature of that great stature to stop one or two swords.

The bear-Lisanna immediately made a swipe for Erza with her free paw, and Erza immediately lunged backwards to avoid the lethal blow. The resulting air pressure from the attack was all she needed to know that dodging that attack may have been the most important decision she had made that day and in her current battle. Immediately, she re-summoned the sword that was currently in Lisanna's right paw, and then thrust her hands into the air before shouting**, "Circle Sword!" **With that command, a large number of swords manifested them around Erza in a circular formation, and began rotating rapidly. She then pointed her blade at Lisanna, and the swords made a swift straight line towards the Take-Over mage. The white haired woman, realizing that even her tough hide could not manage to take the brunt of all those swords hitting her at once, immediately jumped into the air then took on her second form, **Animal Soul: Bird. **The swords from the knight followed her into the air, but she skillfully dodged each and every one of them, and then decided to fly to the ground towards Erza. Erza was surprised at the manner in which she dodged each and every one of her swords. It was not a common occurrence she came across in all her battles as she raised the ranks towards becoming an S-class knight. However, she wondered why Lisanna had chosen to descend towards her with her flurry of swords still behind her.

Lisanna was then enveloped by the light that engulfed her as she used her magic, and Erza soon found herself looking at a large mass of black hair quickly descending towards her. On closer look, Erza realized that those were actually feathers owing to their spacing plus the way they flapped against the resisting wind. The small wings that were on the sides of this new creature indicated that it was clearly a penguin, meaning Lisanna had used **Animal Soul; Penguin. **Erza then realized what Lisanna was planning to do as she moved closer and closer to her. She was planning to crush her using her full body weight and the momentum she had gained from her descent to the ground, and then quickly move out of the way, allowing for a weakened Erza to be finished off by her own weapons that had gained quite some momentum by following Lisanna around in the air. Picking up on what the younger girl was planning to do, Erza immediately donned her second armor of choice, **The Giant's Armor.**

As Lisanna watched the familiar furry, golden colored armor take its place on Erza's body, she saw Erza manifesting the **De-Malevo-Lance **in her outstretched arm, then realized that Erza was planning to impale her from the front, as the swords from Erza's earlier attack pierced her back, thus putting the girl through a brutal finish. She quickly exchanged the immovable wings on her sides for bird wings, using Animal** Soul:Wings, **and just as Erza thrust the heavy lance towards her using her immense physical strength, she was able to move sideways in time for the lance and the swords to make contact in mid-air, leading to a resounding shockwave that nearly threw Lisanna off balance.

The Animal Soul user then returned to the ground, at first staggering on her feet due to the force of Erza's attacks, but then stood upright, after ensuring that she had maintained an acceptable distance between her and Erza. She looked at the knightess, who was already glaring daggers at her and probably calculating her next course of action. She had to hand it to the S-class mage; she definitely lived up to her title as Fairy Tail's strongest female. This battle was probably going to be tougher than she expected. Honestly, she had come there to challenge Natsu, a fight with Erza had completely caught her by surprise, and although she had managed to hold her own fairly well against the Exquip user, she felt a little disappointed that she could not get a chance to fight her childhood friend.

Erza, on the other hand, was quite surprised with how well Lisanna had managed to fight so far. While she was still in the guild, she had always considered MiraJane the epitome of strength among her fellow female mages, thinking of the Demon as a notch higher above her siblings. Clearly, that was not the case. For a fake, Lisanna was fighting pretty well against the S-class Erza.

"You're not half-bad. I was hoping I would be able to finish you off quickly before going and assisting Natsu in fighting Grandpa Rob, but I guess I'll have to settle for you for a while," Erza spoke up, being the first to break the ice between the two females.

Lisanna dusted herself a little using her wings, the feathers rubbing off the dust that had accumulated on her body after her ungraceful descent. She then looked up at the red-haired woman and scoffed a little, before saying," Hmph, that's my line. I was hoping that I'd be able to finish you off quickly so that I could get a chance to fight Natsu myself." She then grinned and looked at Erza, having retaliated with what would hit Erza hard.

"You're not going anywhere near him," Erza said, with a hint of anger and darkness in her voice. Clearly, she had been appalled by what Lisanna had said, and decided that she would not let Natsu bear the burden of fighting his childhood friend. Her earlier resolve as she charged into battle with the woman steeled further, and she poised herself to continue their battle.

At that moment, a shout ripped into the air from somewhere behind the two girls, and Erza felt the blood in her veins turn into ice. She recognized the all-too familiar groan of pain belonging to her comrade and her beloved, and her eyes widened in shock and horror. Ahead of her, Lisanna smiled satisfactorily, as she said to Erza, "Well, what do you know? It seems that I might not even get a chance to fight Natsu myself. What a shame.

Erza slowly turned her head backwards, only to find….

**A/N: **To be continued.


	13. Rob's Magic

**Chapter 12**

**Rob's Magic**

….Natsu sprawled on the ground, only his face looking towards the old man towards him. His arms lay unmoving on both his sides, and a closer look at them showed Erza that they had large patches of skin that seemed obviously charred, owing to the rough texture and the red color that now flooded his arms. The red head's eyes widened, as her body scanned Natsu for any other injuries that he had suffered, praying that the arms were the only limbs he had taken damage to, and her eyes soon came to rest upon his legs, that were similarly charred on around the portion of his knees.

"Natsu!" Erza called out his name, her voice not failing to carry the worry that now stirred in her heart after watching the pink-haired dragon slayer being in that damaged state. Natsu's body stirred weakly at her call, as he struggled to turn to face the red haired woman, but to no avail. His face now lay on the ground, the end result of an attempt at trying to look at Erza who had called him.

Erza was immediately overcome with grief, and her mind began racing in confusion as she thought of what to do next. Deciding on the first thing that came to her mind, she immediately turned on her heel and started dashing towards the dragon slayer. As she ran towards him, she began berating herself inwardly at how she made the stupid decision of allowing Natsu to take on Rob, a man who was clearly the same age as Makarov, and was once a mage of Fairy Tail, meaning he was more or less the same level as the Third Guild Master. Natsu had challenged Makarov to several duels in the past during his younger mage days, but at each time it ended with him being taken out in one blow. Since Natsu had been unable to as much as touch Makarov, there was no way he would be able to do the same with Rob. The red haired woman grit her teeth as she rushed towards him, wondering why she had not caught on such an important fact earlier. If it wasn't for his groans of pain, she probably would not have realized the dire situation he was in and he would have in a worst case scenario, died.

Of course, her mind filled with thoughts of Natsu's safety, she forewent the matter that she was currently engaged with battle in an opponent of her own. Erza realized that she was not moving as fast as she normally did, and her mind brought her back to the realization that she was still equipped in her **Giant's Armor. **She immediately decided to change back into her normally equipped **Heart Kruz Armor;** however, all of a sudden her senses registered an attack that was heading towards her towards her blind spot. Having no time to waste upon which armor to don, the girl simply summoned a sword to her hand, then raised it as swiftly as she could move her hands. She barely made it in time to dodge an attack from Lisanna.

The white haired girl had partially transformed her hands into claws, leaving the rest of her body in its human form. The resounding clash between her claws and Erza's sword sent sparks into the air surrounding the two women, harshly bringing Erza back to the reality that she was still in battle. She stared into the blue eyes of her opponent, which held a menacing glare at the moment.

"Oh my, losing concentration? That was unusually slow, even by your standards, Erza Scarlet, "Lisanna spoke to the dark eyed woman, as she pressed against her sword with the razor-sharp claws of her newest takeover, **Animal Soul: Cat. **

Erza realized that the woman had a point, blaming herself further for leaving herself open while she was in the midst of a life and death battle with her opponent at the moment. She didn't have time to rush across a battlefield. From her current position, where she was still quite a distance away from Natsu, the two agreeing on not getting in each other's way in the middle of their fights, she shifted her gaze towards the pink-haired dragon slayer. He was still sprawled on the ground, his body twitching ever so slightly, which was an indication that no other attacks had been landed on him as of yet.

Erza's eyes then moved upwards towards his opponent, and then they rested on the white haired man that Natsu had been fighting a few moments earlier. Unsurprisingly, the man was still in the same shape that he had been in prior to the beginning of the battle; there wasn't even as much as a smudge of dirt on him. However, his arms were folded behind his back, in the usually calm and stoic manner he carried himself. Erza realized there was no trace of magic in the air, except for the damage on Natsu, so she found herself wondering what kind of magic Rob had used. It went without saying that he had obviously used **Fire Magic; **however, Erza wondered what sort of fire had overcome Natsu to that point, when he was the Fire Dragon Slayer.

"_Just what did he do there?" _

Erza found herself wondering, and for the second time in that battle, she unfortunately veered out of the concentration she had been in a few seconds earlier while parrying Lisanna's attack. Lisanna's words brought her out of her thoughts again, and Erza swiftly shifted her eyes back to the white haired woman.

"Oi, oi, that's a bit rude you know, Erza-san," Lisanna said, sarcasm dripping out of her voice, and she rose a foot to meet Erza's head. The foot, now in mid-air, immediately transformed into a talon, prepared to claw Erza's head off. Erza raised her second hand, outstretched, a sword materializing in it quickly. There was a second collision of Erza's sword and Lisanna's magic, resulting into a fiercer barrage of sparks being released into the air surrounding the two women.

"Hmm," Lisanna started, one leg raised in mid air and one arm currently in front of her pressuring Erza's sword, "this time you were a tad faster. My compliments indeed."

Erza, who now had both of her arms currently occupied with parrying Lisanna's attacks, restored her full concentration to the woman before her. To her relief, Rob seemed not ready to make any more moves, so for the moment Natsu was safe. Still, Erza realized that she had to take care of Lisanna as soon as possible if she wanted a chance to rescue Natsu. If worst came to worst, she would probably have to fight Rob in order to rescue Natsu, so she had to finish this as quickly as possible so as to preserve more of her magic.

"Still, I'm surprised, Erza. You lost focus halfway and immediately ran towards Natsu. Is he that important to you?" Lisanna goaded the woman again, while she pressed her claw and talon towards the knight. Of course, they couldn't remain in this position for much longer, since both of them were at a disadvantage and could not use any more attacks. She wanted to make sure of something first, before deciding upon her next move.

Erza decided not to reply to the woman's question, not giving her any chances to exploit any weaknesses that she had in her heart. She would not tell her that while Natsu was her strength on so many occasions, he was at the same time her biggest weakness. If Lisanna and Rob found out about that at the moment, it would be over for all of them. There was no way she was going to let Natsu die.

Lisanna, who registered the stoic expression Erza had on her face at the moment, plus her silence, took it as an affirmation of her suspicions. She turned her head towards the Myria who was currently taking upon Rob's form, then grinned evilly as she gave out her next instructions.

"Hey, Rob, it seems that boy over there is someone really important," she began, and Erza felt her heart sink into her mouth. They had found out. She pressed urgently against Lisanna's transformed limbs, looking for a window of an opportunity to escape, as she had a sickly feeling as to what the woman was going to say next. Lisanna was pleased at the way in which Erza had reacted, so she knew that she had hit the nail on the head. "Why don't you torture him a bit more, I want to see her fall more into despair and desperation," Lisanna concluded her command, and immediately, Erza's eyes widened in shock. She gritted her teeth in anger and stared daggers at Lisanna, who was now looking back at Erza with a smug expression on her face.

Rob took in every word that Lisanna had said, and then smiled menacingly. He immediately began walking towards Natsu; at the slowest pace his legs could carry him, as he had all the time in the world.

"Stop!" Erza shouted at him, and Lisanna began to giggle in a sickening manner. Erza realized that the woman was enjoying every moment of this, fully intending to make both Erza and Natsu suffer. The white haired man who was walking towards Natsu immediately drew out his hand on his side, and a blood red flame immediately formed on it. Erza realized she had never come across fire like that in her entire life as a mage, and wondered what sort of magic it was. Remembering that he was about to injure Natsu further than the man was already damaged at the moment, her mind immediately began racing with any solutions that were present to her at the moment. Her mobility was highly limited, since both her arms were restrained, and if she tried to exquip, she would give Lisanna the desired chance to land a devastating blow on her.

_What do I do?_

Erza's mind desperately searched for a solution. Rob raised his hand to thrust the fire in his hand towards the beaten form of Natsu on the ground, and immediately, all of Erza's senses froze. There was no time to think! Natsu was going to suffer more with the next attack, his screams tearing through the air and subsequently through Erza's heart, and it was all due to Erza dilly-dallying and being wishy-washy about what to do. She then realized that Natsu's safety was more important to her than her own at the moment, his bright smile invading her thoughts at the moment. Immediately, Erza thrust her body backwards, a familiar white light enveloping her, and Lisanna smiled as the woman had finally left herself open. She charged forward with both her arms transformed into those sharp appendages, and cut at the form of Erza, before the light disappeared.

Erza was no longer there.

Rob released the wave of fire at Natsu, and there was a huge explosion. As quickly as it had happened, the explosion of fire subsided, and the white haired man was a bit baffled as he wondered whether he had gone a bit too far with his previously used attack. The entire ground that lay before him and where Natsu had been lying limply a few moments earlier had all been turned into ash, courtesy of the fire he had used.

Rob brought his hand to the back of his head, mentally cursing that he had failed to enjoy the moment and that Natsu's body had been reduced to cinders. A few seconds later, however, he heard the panting of someone behind him, making him a bit surprised. He turned his head to meet the source of the strained breaths, a bit surprised as his mind already had the first impression of the person that had survived his onslaught. Of course, he was not wrong, as said person was currently on the back of his old friend at the Tower of Heaven.

"Tch," Lisanna exclaimed, as she appeared next to the white haired man, one arm resting on her waist. She had reverse transformed her limbs back to their normal human state, and currently wore an expression of displeasure on her visage. Of course, Rob was also none the happier with what had just transpired, as both of their opponents were still alive, and it was thanks to Erza Scarlet.

The red haired woman had sweat dripping out on the exposed parts of her skin, from her face to her legs, as the rest of her body was donned in the familiar cheetah stripes of her **Soaring Armor. Lisanna** immediately realized that she had equipped her fastest armor while she was in that pinch; effectively using her speed to dodge Lisanna, dodge Rob's attacks as she made her way towards Natsu, effectively saving both him and her. Of course, this didn't all go as smoothly as Erza had planned, and Lisanna smirked when her eyes came to rest upon Erza's right arm, that was currently not in the possession of any sword.

There was a serious gash on Erza's right arm, just below her shoulder joint, and blood flowed from her arm to where her hand was. She winced in pain once she shifted Natsu to the ground, relieving the burden of one off her arms that was seriously injured at the moment, and she wondered if she would be able to hold any sword in that arm anymore in her current battle. However, she paid the arm no heed, expressing relief in the fact that Natsu was currently safe and out of danger's way, at least for the moment. Something else immediately arrested Erza's attention at the moment, and she turned her gaze to the charred piece of land that was currently behind Rob and Lisanna. She had not believed it the first time, but now, having a clearer view of it, she realized that her body had not deceived her at that moment.

The ground that was behind Rob had been reduced to ashes, a feat that Natsu's fire was unable to even accomplish. Not only that, but as she rushed into the path of Rob's magic earlier to retrieve the unmoving form of Natsu, she realized just how high the temperature was in the area around Rob's attack. It was higher than anything she had ever encountered before, and she could feel her body rapidly perspiring in an attempt to cool her off as she took the dragon slayer into her arms and made a clean getaway.

_Just what was up with that fire?_

Erza then remembered that she had never witnessed Rob using his magic before, the two of them having spent most of their time imprisoned within that tower, meaning they were mostly in magic-sealing cuffs. Lest for that one moment when there had been a grand escape by the prisoners owing to Jellal's and Erza's combined efforts, where Rob had used a certain spell to destroy the prison guards that were about to decimate Erza, and she still hadn't figured out what he had done, since his body was disintegrated the next moment. Now, in the present, she had to come face to face with that unknown fire, and she had no idea what she was going to do about it.

As if reading her thoughts, the white haired man called out to her, having resumed his normally calm posture. "Curious, Erza-chan?" Rob asked her, and she shifted his eyes to him. His eyes still remained in their normally closed state, and he smiled at her, a smile that she realized did not carry the warmth that the real Rob had. She felt irritated at this and more so at the way these creatures had managed to perfectly mimic both Rob and Lisanna. While it had seemed something out of her wildest dreams at the moment, she had finally come to accept the reality that these 'creatures', whatever they were, had managed to perfectly throw Erza's and Natsu's minds into disarray with their currently assumed forms.

Erza chose not to answer Rob's question, still holding on her earlier belief of not allowing those enemies to think they had gotten the upper hand, but still, Rob decided to prattle on. Well, if there was one thing Erza was grateful for, it was the fact that both Myria were more talkative than the forms of the people they had taken, meaning they tended to divulge information at the moments Erza needed it the most.

"I'll do you a favor and tell you then. My magic is called **Cremation Magic**. It produces blood red flames, fire that turns anything it touches into ashes. Actually, I'm a bit impressed at how that boy behind you is still retaining his human form. He must be quite exceptional," Rob continued, and the expression Erza had on her face of realization made him a bit pleased. Still, he could not hide the confusion he felt as to why Natsu was still pleased. While he knew quite a bit about Erza, he knew next to nothing regarding Natsu, deeming it unnecessary since he was clearly stronger than the boy.

"It's because he's a Dragon Slayer, Rob-san. More specifically, the Fire Dragon Slayer, his body is naturally adapted to fire," Lisanna chimed in, clearing Rob's confusion at the entire matter. Rob let out a small "Ah" at that statement, then rubbed his beard in thought. Dragon Slayer. It had been quite a while since he had heard that word, but now that made everything clear.

"Well, now that makes sense. Even if the boy is a Dragon Slayer that can eat fire, he will find it impossible to eat these flames. The only advantage that he will have is that the magic will not engulf him as it does other ordinary mages, so he has his nature of magic to thank for his safety. He won't be able to move his body for a while, " Rob said to Erza, and the red haired girl shifted her gaze to Natsu, taking in everything that the old man had been saying. Erza remembered something that Levy McGarden had told her once when they were in Fairy Hills, on a night not too long ago, regarding a practice that normal people had while they disposed of the dead bodies of their loved ones, called cremation. It involved burning the lifeless body of the person in particular, and once they were nothing but ashes, the ashes were buried, thrown into the sea, or kept by the affected family as a memento. Rob's magic was strikingly similar to that age-old practice by humans.

"E-rza?" A sudden, awfully weak voice called out to her, and Erza realized it originated from the boy lying next to her, having taken note of the way his lips had parted slightly. She felt happiness well over her, and her eyes became laden with tears, as he had finally regained consciousness. Immediately, she went over him, her body looming over his, as she decided to take a closer look at his face. The pain in her bleeding arm ran through her body again, but she shrugged it off, taking more delight in the fact that Natsu had finally regained consciousness. Of course, this time, she was not going to let the same mistake that had plagued her two times already to happen a third time. Keeping one eye on the duo of Rob and Lisanna, she noticed that the two of them still remained unmoved from their original position. The expressions on their faces were totally relaxed, and Erza took this as a testament of their complacency to the situation. Of course, with Natsu barely remaining conscious, their victory was all but sealed in the bag. Normally, Erza would have felt her blood boiling at the fact that she was being underestimated by her enemy, but the current situation, with Natsu in that state, she could not wish for a better chance to check over him.

"Natsu! Is your body feeling better now?" Erza immediately blurted, her left arm coming to rest upon Natsu's left elbow. The pink haired man immediately winced at the contact, his arm drawing back instinctively, and Erza released her arm from him. He still seemed to be in some pain, however, since his arm had jerked back a little, Erza realized that most of it might have subsided by now. She smiled a little at herself, then shifted her gaze back to Natsu, who had one of his eyes shut as he smiled nervously back at Erza. For a moment, their eyes met, and Erza suddenly felt herself getting a bit hot, so she decided to refocus her gaze on his body.

"I'm sorry, Erza. He got me. And pretty badly," Natsu said, and chuckled a bit uneasily. Erza had to admit, she found Natsu to be quite an odd person. He had been defeated by his opponent yet he still found it in him to laugh about the whole matter. Normally, if it were her or any other person, they would probably be frustrated about the entire matter, outwardly expressing their anger by lashing out at stuff or crying visibly. But Natsu could still laugh at his current predicament, and while he still seemed to be in pain, he did not let it outwardly show. Erza found herself feeling a new surge of affection for the pink-haired boy, and somewhere within her, a tinge of hope. They weren't out of it just yet, and the strained smile on Natsu's face was a show of that.

"It's okay. It was originally my fault for allowing you to face someone so strong. I should have known better and calmly assessed his strength before allowing you to fight him in my stead. I'm sorry, Natsu," Erza said, the expression on her face representing the sadness she was feeling at that moment. While she was delighted that Natsu had recovered enough of his strength to talk to her and move his body by the smallest fraction, she still could not help but feel partially responsible for the state he was in. She did not know anything better to do than to apologize. Suddenly, she felt as if she was going to start bawling over him in order to eliminate the sense of guilt she was feeling, but she remembered how he had never liked seeing that side of her in the Tower of Heaven. She decided to hold it in. It wouldn't make the situation better, and it would only cause him to snap her out of it.

Natsu, who had silently watched Erza with her solemn expression, struggling to fight against what she was feeling at the moment, and realized that he did not like seeing that side of her, for the second time in his life,. Yes, his Erza was supposed to be stronger than anyone he knew, always holding her head high in pride and strength. Natsu had never admitted it to her, but he dreamed of surpassing her one day, and then watching her face as he gloated to her about it. Seeing her in this state just didn't feel right. He decided to snap her out of it.

"Hey, Erza!" He started, a bit too loudly, that the red-haired girl raised her head in surprise. Erza then noticed the displeased expression that was currently on Natsu's face, and with a sense of shame, realized he had caught wind of the surge if negativity she was currently feeling. Her cheeks were stained faint red with embarrassment, and she had the grace to look away from his face. Natsu, however, was not going to let her off that easily. He still kept his gaze affixed from her, and Erza suddenly got the uneasy feeling that he was still staring at her in that displeased manner.

"Come on, Erza! You shouldn't go feeling all bad about this. Even if you hadn't suggested it, I would still have fought him either way. I knew it was going to be hard on you to fight someone you loved dearly, so I decided to take on that burden for you. It's entirely my fault," Natsu explained, a hint of impatience in his voice, since he did not want Erza to linger in her self-depreciating thoughts any longer. He loved seeing her with her normally stoic expression, smiling calmly at things that pleased her and getting angry at things that enraged her. Yes, she was his Erza Scarlet, and he would take it upon himself to rid her of anything that made her sad, no matter how small or big it was. Natsu had decided to fight Rob of his own accord, since he knew exactly how hard it would be for Erza to fight someone with that face. He decided to take on what would be her burden, since he could not bear to see her grief-stricken face again.

Erza was surprised by the serious tone which Natsu had used in trying to cheer her up, and her face was contorted in confusion. Never before had she heard Natsu talking to her in such a serious manner, so it struck her as odd, and at the same time, a pleasant surprise. All of a sudden, the guilt and sadness she had been feeling beforehand all ebbed away, leaving in her gut a feeling of contentment. Natsu had done a remarkable job at raising her spirits, so she closed her eyes and recomposed herself again, not allowing those negative thoughts to invade her mind again. The dragon slayer watched her face as her expression changed to something more positive, and similarly, felt happy that Erza was back to her usual self.

Still, Erza realized, as much as she desired to stay longer with Natsu like this, they still had a job to do. And enemies who they needed to take down before they could progress. Shyly, she remembered that she still had something that she wanted to tell him once all the fighting was done. The last thought resurfacing in her mind, she immediately steeled her resolve and decided that she had to finish off her opponents as soon as possible, so that she could finally reveal what was in her heart to the pink haired man. Erza exhaled a little, a gesture that did not go unnoticed by Natsu, who was still on the ground in front of her, and then slowly began standing up. Natsu arched an eyebrow in surprise, wondering what she was planning to do. Erza, however, knew that this was something she now had to do on her own. Tentatively, she began walking towards the duo of Rob and Lisanna, and Natsu realized a second too late what she was planning to do. He tried moving his body, but the pain from his limbs shot throughout his body all at once, and he stopped in his motion. The injuries from Rob's magic had certainly done their toll on him, as he was robbed of motion from all his limbs, rendering him unable to move from his current spot.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, he could still move his head to catch a glimpse of what Erza was going to do, and to his utter shock, he realized she was walking towards the enemies they had been facing up till a while ago. His eyes widened in shock and a fear clenched at his gut, as he opened his mouth to shout her name, hoping that she would have the sense to stop in whatever she was planning to do.

"Erza! Stop!" Natsu's voice had recovered to the point where he was now able to form coherent sentences and raise his voice to how he normally sounded, so he was confident that she would be able to hear him fully. Erza paused momentarily, once she was sure that she had created ample distance between him and her, then, without shifting her gaze back to him, as she was sure that whatever expression he had on his face would make her weak on her knees and she would began having second thoughts about what she was going to do. No, she was not going to let him talk her out of whatever she had resolved herself to do. It was for her good and his as well. She had decided to walk away from him at that time, words unsaid, so that she would be fully assured of going through with what she had in mind. Erza shifted her gaze to the two enemies in front of her, and clenched her fist, reminding herself of what she needed to do. She needed to fight both of them together, 2 on 1, since Natsu was in no position to fight. If she decided to leave him unmanned and one of the opponents idle, there's no telling what they would do. If they ambushed Natsu in his injured state, he would be helpless, and, Erza gulped at the second thought, she would conclude her battle with her opponent only to find Natsu dead and a smiling Rob hovering over his dead body. She immediately dispelled those thoughts from her mind, her focus returning to the opponents that now stood before her.

"What? Done talking with your boyfriend already? I thought it would take you longer, since you seem to be so infatuated with him," Lisanna jeered at Erza. Under normal circumstances, Erza would have blushed at the mention of 'boyfriend', and vehemently denied the false accusations, with her cheeks blazing red out of embarrassment, but she realized that this was not the time. She had to be focused on what she was going to do. Her gaze drifted between Lisanna and Rob, assessing the two and wondering in her mind just what out of her armors would she use to combat them, giving her the upper hand in battle.

Then, Natsu's voice invaded her thoughts again.

"Erza! You don't have to do this! I can still-!" He tried wedging his body off the ground again, but failed for the third time again. He was desperate at this point, working on any means to be in a position where he could stand again, so that he wouldn't let Erza fight by herself, but each attempt left his body aching in pain. He grit his teeth and his body was riddled with a feeling of uselessness, feeling that he would not help Erza the help she needed when it was most necessary. He shut his eyes to eliminate the fear that threatened to engulf him at the moment, but then his mind shifted to a certain incident a few months ago.

_Natsu had regained his consciousness after a gruesome fight with Jellal, where he had eaten Etherion out of rage due to seeing Erza shedding tears over the body of her deceased comrade, Simon. After beating the crap out of Jellal and sending his body fiercely to the depths of the tower with a jaw breaking punch, he soon faded out of consciousness and felt a warm pair of arms wrap themselves around him, before drifting completely into unconsciousness. Now that he was finally on his feet again, he caught sight of the red haired knight currently having her body partly immersed in the lacrima that he had saved her from a few moments earlier._

_He called out her name in confusion, wondering just what she was doing in there. _

"_Erza?"_

_The red haired girl immediately looked towards the source of the voice, realizing that it came from Natsu. "Good, he seems to have regained consciousness," she thought. Immediately, she looked towards him, and said nothing. Natsu, noticing that her body was getting sucked deeper and deeper into the lacrima, got off his feet awkwardly, and began stumbling towards her in a hastened pace. Once he had reached her position, he looked up at her from his position on the ground, and then she slowly stretched out her arm, that was luckily still out of the lacrima, and gently placed it on his cheek. Natsu could feel the warmth emanating from her soft hand, and made no motion to swat it away._

_Erza then revealed to him her plan about how she was going to merge with the lacrima, so that the explosion would not reach Gray and the others that were still near the R-Tower, enclosed in Juvia's __**Water Prison. **__Natsu realized that by doing so, Erza would be sacrificing her life in exchange for his and for the rest of her friends, and desperately began slamming his fists against the cold lacrima she was currently absorbed into completely. Tears immediately began flowing out freely from his eyes, and he screamed her name one last time, as the tower plus he were engulfed in a blinding white light._

His mind bringing him back to the present, Natsu realized that the same thing was happening again, and once again, he was rendered powerless to do nothing but watch, as Erza charged into a suicidal battle. Again, Erza had chosen to sacrifice herself for his sake rather than allow him to die. He hated that about her, the fact that she never told anyone about what she was planning to do before she did it, realizing just how much he would be sad if she died because of that one day. He was aware she knew that Rob was nearly as powerful as their master, and Lisanna herself was definitely not someone who was worth laughing at. Natsu suddenly felt his eyes cloud with tears, and being unable to do anything, let them flow freely to the earth that lay beneath him.

Erza immediately called upon her **Flame Empress Armor, **acting upon Rob's information regarding his magic. If his flames were really as powerful as he said, and according to the damage she had already seen, the best she could do was reduce the destructive power of his fire. Still, she did not want to take any unnecessary risks, so she decided as much as possible that she would try and avoid being hit by his flames, all while engaging he and Lisanna in battle. She remembered engaging the Guild Master of Phantom Lord, Jose Porla in battle, when Fairy Tail was engaged in an all-out war with Phantom Lord, and then realized that Rob was probably going to be as strong, if not stronger, than the Phantom Master.

She closed her eyes again in focus, blocking out all thoughts of Natsu from her mind, then, with a draw of breath, she leapt towards the two mages. Both Lisanna and Rob were surprised at her sudden action, owing to the way their eyes widened, but immediately, Lisanna called upon her magic. Rob moved slightly to the side, leaving only Lisanna in Erza's path, and then made a straight dash towards Natsu, fully intending to finish him off. Erza caught sight of him just as he passed across her field of vision, and then launched a fireball towards him, with the best aim she could get. Rob immediately sensed the attack heading towards his blind spot, and immediately shot a wave of crimson fire at it. Erza'a attack was vaporized in an instant, and Rob's attack, having proved superior to Erza's continually made its way towards the red-haired woman. Erza soon realized the drastic rise in temperature towards the left side of her body, where Rob had stopped momentarily after warding off Erza's attack, and smiled to herself as things had gone exactly as she had imagined them. Towards her front, Lisanna had morphed into a Cat, using her **Animal Soul:Cat, **and had made a leap towards Erza, intending to rip her throat out. The knight was now caught in a pincer attack, both from her blind spot and her front. Erza smirked a little, before taking a few steps backwards, effectively getting out of the Rob's raging fire. Lisanna, catching onto her plan a few steps too late, yelped a little as some of the fire caught onto her body, before she safely turned into a bird and took to the skies, out of the fires' path.

Erza was satisfied by her plan, so she immediately rushed towards Rob's path, where he had been en route towards Natsu before halting his progress. The white haired man, having realized that Erza had just placed Lisanna on the path of his magic in purpose, clicked his tongue in displeasure, as he saw Erza standing in front of him. Above him, in the sky, Lisanna flew around his head in anger, part of her wings and feathers charred, owing to the black that now coated them, before she resumed her human form and descended to the ground next to Rob. The white haired girl was visibly enraged at having been duped like that, and Erza found herself amused at the way her face was contorted in rage. Still, she had to keep her guard up, even if she had gotten one of them.

"Watch where you're firing your magic, old man!" Lisanna immediately barked towards the white haired man, who apologized to her hastily before the two refocused their gaze to Erza.

"I'm not letting any of you get near him," Erza said to the two bickering enemies, her voice brimming with confidence, as she was ready to display to them just why she was revered as the strongest female mage of Fairy Tail, **Titania.**

"She might be a bit tricky," Rob remarked to Lisanna, and the two immediately began their attacks on Erza. Rob launched another wave of fire at Erza, and the red haired girl soon realized that he did not specifically specialize in designing techniques for his magic. Perhaps since it was an encompassing magic, he did not feel the need to specialize in any special techniques, putting his faith in the sheer destructive power of his magic. He was different in Natsu, another fire wielder, in that regard. Erza immediately leapt out of the way of the attack, as it went on an on in its destructive path to the surroundings around Erza. Luckily, the fire had been away from the position where Natsu was currently rested, so Erza heaved a sigh of relief as she looked back to follow the path of fire. She did not have time to dwell on this fact, however, as Lisanna immediately charged towards her with another attack, this time, a double kick aimed towards Erza's face.

Erza gracefully stepped out of the way, and grabbed the girl by one foot, before throwing her towards Rob's direction. Lisanna flailed in mid-air as she tried regaining balance of her body, to no avail, before she felt a firm hand on her back that stopped her flight progress in mid-air. Immediately, her partner grabbed her by the waist and jumped out of the way with her, just as Erza fired another fireball towards them. As the two were still in mid-air, however, Erza immediately jumped towards them, her flame sword in tow, before aiming her sword at them. The sword covered in flames was immediately blocked by a wall of fire that was conjured by Rob, cutting off the white haired duo from Erza's sight. She immediately drew back her sword from the wall of flames, and realized that part of it was had been burnt off by the excess heat. Erza clicked her tongue in annoyance, but she had no time to breathe, as immediately the wall of flames immediately began moving towards her standing form. The knight soon became aware of her oncoming predicament, and leapt out of the way successfully to dodge the trail of fire. It wasn't enough this time.

The fire immediately made a turn the same way Erza had a few moments earlier, and was soon hot on the trail of the girl. Erza widened her eyes in surprise, and her eyes came upon the form of Rob, who was currently on the other side of the wall, his fingers dancing as he manipulated the fire to chase after Erza. Erza quickly took note of the fact that he was no longer holding Lisanna, and her eyes scoured around the field as she frantically searched for the white haired girl while skillfully dodging the onslaught of fire that Rob had sent towards her. Erza soon felt the presence of an incoming force above her, and her eyes immediately shot upwards as she watched the descending form of a Rabbit descending towards her. The trail of fire that was after her momentarily stopped, as Lisanna came dangerously close towards her, and Erza swung her sword upwards to shoot fire towards her. However, the pain that had been caused by Lisanna's attack earlier when she had saved Natsu caused her arm to freeze momentarily, and pain shot throughout her body. All of a sudden, she felt her body being crushed by the resultant weight if Lisanna plus the gravity she had accumulated as she was descending, then all of a sudden, the lower part of her body shook in pain. She felt a rush of dizziness as her head crashed to the ground ungracefully, and once she had regained her bearings, she saw that Lisanna still had the lower half of her body underneath her gigantic animal form at the moment.

Looking up towards the animal's face, she saw the woman smiling menacingly at her, and then she drew back her arm, intending to land it fully on Erza's face, crushing her skull and effectively snuffing out her life. Erza reequipped again, and suddenly her body was covered in golden and light bluish armor. She raised the spear of her **Lightning Empress Armor **towards the face of Lisanna, and released a stream of lightning towards the oversized animal. Lisanna immediately leapt backwards in retreat, returning to her normal human form, as the wave of lightning narrowly missed her and went forth into the sky.

Erza was free again, but realized that her legs were wobbling dangerously as she extricated herself from the ground. Lisanna had done a fine job at rendering the lower half of her body immobile. The red haired woman regained her posture as she stood; however, she was not sure just how long her legs would last, in that state. Before she was able to find the answer to that question, however, she became aware of a looming presence behind her, and she quickly turned her head.

"It's over, Erza Scarlet."

Rob had coated his fist into a small wave of flames, and it slowly made its way towards Erza's face.

"Erza!" Natsu shouted, as he watched the spectacle before him unfold. Suddenly realizing that Erza was unable to dodge the point-blank attack, he forced his body to move again. It was futile, as expected.

_Please! _

_Please move!_

_Just this once, I beg you!_

Natsu immediately began desperately trying to extricate his body from the ground. The pain that had enveloped him earlier returned on full force, and he pushed himself mentally to ignore it as much as he could. It proved to be a Herculean task, as expected, but if he didn't do that here then Erza would die. The thought of having her cold, lifeless body in his arms once this was over shook him violently to his core. He did not notice the red cracks that had began appearing on his arms and legs.

Less than a second later, Natsu had found himself punching Rob squarely in the face, sending the old man flying a few meters away.

Lisanna's eyes widened in surprise as she struggled to come to terms with what had just happened, all while taking in the new form of Natsu before her. Erza, on the other hand, realized what form Natsu had just taken, having been witness to it in that tower a few months ago.

"Dragon Force," She weakly muttered.

"Don't you dare lay your filthy hands on her!" The pink haired man roared to the old man, plus the white haired girl who was a few paces away from Natsu and Erza.

**A/N: **To be continued.


	14. Confession

**Chapter 13**

**Confession**

_Apocrypha_

"**Open! Gate of the Water Bearer, Aquarius!" **Lucy HeartFilia called out her first spirit in the fight with her fake mother. She had managed to come back to her senses completely, not allowing her heart to waver any more over the fake persona that now stood before her, mirroring the person she loved dearly once. The royal blue mermaid, now floating in midair next to the blonde girl, was not exactly pleased to be called out while she was in the middle of her date with Scorpio. Glaring daggers at Lucy, who as usual, could feel the anger of the blue haired woman, Aquarius began biting Lucy's head off," Hey, little girl, I told you time and time again not to summon me before checking with me-"She stopped speaking, once noticing Lucy was not paying attention to her like she would and start getting defensive, her gaze focused before her. A bit surprised, Aquarius shifted her eyes away from her Master and looked ahead, completely blown away by whom stood before her.

"Why is she here?" Aquarius questioned her Master, being one of the few times that she ever bothered asking Lucy anything, perplexed as to why on earth her former Master was standing before her right now. Aquarius knew full well that Layla HeartFilia was already dead. So then why was she here now? She would not get the answer to her question, however, since Lucy immediately dished out her request to the blue haired girl. "There's no time to ask questions, Aquarius! Just attack her head on, she isn't my mom!" Lucy's voice carried a sense of urgency and desperation, noted secretly by Aquarius. "Wha- Fine then! If you refuse to tell me later on I'll flush you down the toilet!" Aquarius retorted in irritation, but nonetheless she raised her Water Urn and released a wave of water at her former master.

"**Solid Script: Oil!" **Levy immediately shouted, waving her hands in mid air as she wrote the inscriptions for her next spell. A gush of oil immediately sprung forth from where she had inscribed the words, and from the corner of her eye, she looked at her best friend, nodding slowly. If there was one thing Levy was grateful for at that situation, it was that Lucy was one of the most intelligent mages in Fairy Tail, which meant that she did not have to spend a lot of time over-explaining things to her. Her actions would speak for her and Lucy would go with it, as displayed just then. The oil from Levy's spell and the water from Aquarius combined to form a much denser liquid, owing to oil's immiscibility with water, which meant that Layla would not be able to use the water spell that she had used earlier to cancel out Levy's spell. The difference in force would eventually overpower Layla and drown her in her opponent's Magic

Much to the duo's surprise, however Layla smirked underneath the hood that covered her face, and raised a key to the air, summoning a Clam. At first, Lucy and Levy were perplexed as to why she would do that, but without warning, the Clam opened up to release a volley of highly pressurized water. The attack cut cleanly through Lucy and Levy's combined attack, and threatened to also tear through the two, persisting towards them. Levy leaped out of the way just in time, since her smaller frame gave her much more mobility in such situations. Lucy could not boast of such feats, however, luckily Aquarius was able to carry her out of the way in time before she was cleaved in half by Layla's attack.

As Levy landed ungraciously on the ground beside her, she immediately recomposed herself and focused her gaze to her opponent, knowing that losing focus for even a second would mean instant death. With Layla's counter, though, she recognized it as the same water attack that the opponent had used earlier. How it had managed to overpower Lucy and Levy's combined attack wasn't rocket science to the blue haired mage, she was well aware that highly pressurized water was powerful enough to cut through even stone. Glancing beside her at her blonde best friend, she called out to her," Lu-chan!" Lucy, who was still in Aquarius's hold, responded, "I know!" affirming that the thoughts that went through Levy's mind were mirrored in her own. She looked back at her Water Spirit, intending to call out to her for her second attack.

This time, however, Lucy was a second too late. Layla, having taken note of the manner in which her 'daughter' and her best friend had dodged her earlier attack, was dismayed, but nonetheless determined to bring them down more than ever now. She stretched her hand out forward, silently issuing out an order to her spirit, to which the spirit responded by controlling the earlier wave of water and sending it in Lucy's direction. The blonde girl was surprised by the manner at which Layla had cast that move so quickly, but this did not deter her from calling out to her spirit to cast out its earlier move.

"Aquarius!" Lucy called out, and the mermaid swiftly released the blonde girl from her hands, much to Lucy's dismay. She fell on her bum on the hard ground beneath her, and whilst seated, she saw a pillar of water emerge from the ground ahead of her to combat Layla's attack. Aquarius had one hand outstretched whilst her other hand held her urn, a smirk on her face as she found the current debacle increasingly amusing. Her water pillar was able to break the momentum of Layla's attack, sending both water masses into the air above them. Lucy smiled in joy, feeling proud of her spirit and taking slight pride in the fact that she possessed one of the most powerful water spirits in existence. Her celebration, however, came a bit too soon.

Aquarius attack was not powerful enough to divert all of Layla's water. After a period of struggle between the two water masses, there emerged a smaller stream of water from the point of contact between the two water masses, heading straight for the mermaid, who was directly in its line of sight. Lucy happened to still be seated on the ground, so the water mass narrowly missed her head, as it hit Aquarius straight through the chest and pierced through her chest. The blonde girl on the ground looked behind in horror as her mermaid slowly began to disappear and head back into the Celestial Spirit World. Aquarius stared numbly at the spot where she had been struck, then looked back at her owner, without uttering a single word, before exiting the human world completely. Lucy stifled a cry of shock, refocusing her eyes back to her opponent. She began pondering over which of her spirits she could use next, but this time, her best friend beat her to attacking Layla, casting one of her own spells at the woman.

"**Solid Script: Fire! Heat Spell!" **Levy, who had gotten to her feet by then, stretched her hands into the air above her, as the words for her next spell formed themselves above her in a shade of blue. The blue mass of fire charged immediately towards Layla HeartFilia, and the blonde older woman found herself amused by the naiveté of the blue haired girl. Surely she had to learn by now that a simple fire spell would not work on her Silver Key? But then why would she spend time casting the same move again? Layla dismissed it as Levy's faint hopes that using the same move twice would wield different results. As the mass of fire inched nearer and nearer to her, she closed her eyes and huffed in exasperation, slowly stretching out her hand before her to counter the attack with little ease.

"**Taurus!" **A shout stole the stillness that had enveloped the atmosphere around the three combatants, returning Layla to the reality of what was happening. She quickly opened her eyes to find a white bull in the air above her with its axe behind it in a swinging motion, and braced herself for a physical attack upon herself. She could not be more mistaken. Taurus placed his axe in the path of Levy's blue flames, the weapon enveloping itself in the blue flames in a split second, before swinging down the flame-laden axe in the direction of Layla's clam, which had brought itself in front of its master in an attempt to protect her from the inevitable attack. The clam was cleaved in perfect halves, exiting the human world with much needed haste, but the same could not be said for Taurus, who was already swinging his axe horizontally at Layla's waist planning to cleave her in half. The Myria, sensing the imminent danger, flipped its body backwards and away from Taurus' attack, dodging by a hair's breadth as the axe made a small cut at the dress area near her knees. She cursed lightly under her breath as she made a few movements backwards and steadied her body back to its normal upright posture.

Once a fair amount of distance had been created between Layla and the two Fairy Tail mages, the two girls looked at each other cheerfully, finally being allowed a moment to breathe. Part of the merit in being best friends was that you could easily complement each other's skills in battle, just like Lucy had done with Levy's attack just then. There had been no verbal sign or any form of signal between the two, but somehow, the same thoughts had crossed through their minds. The two best friends smiled at each other, taking pleasure in the fact that they had finally managed to put a scratch on their opponent. Victory did not seem like a sheer dream anymore, and their resolve to beat their opponent deepened. As long as there was a chance, they would not give up.

To their expectations, however, Layla was livid with the two girls, evident in the murderous glare she sent their way once she had cleared the dust of her clothes. She grit her teeth in anger, angry at the two girls for outwitting her, and slightly livid with herself for jumping to conclusions. This time, a bit faster, she quickly drew out another of her Silver Keys, and a light suddenly appeared next to her signifying the next spirit she had called forth. Lucy and Levy braced themselves for the unknown attack, being brought out of their elation and likewise, Taurus also prepared himself ahead of the two. At first, the man had been shocked when he was immediately summoned in front of one whom served as his former master, but knowing full well that Lucy would not call him out for nothing, placed his faith in his owner and put all his strength in his attack just then, adorning his axe with Levy's flames, taking the magic to be a booster since he knew that he would not be sent into the path of an allies' magic for no good reason as well. The bull, still wielding the flame-coated axe, tightened his grip on his weapon as he awaited the unknown to form itself in front of him.

It happened in an instant. A Minotaur, a few inches taller than Taurus, appeared in the light before the bull, wielding in its arms a war hammer that was twice the size of Taurus's axe. The bull was awed by the strength displayed by the newly summoned Spirit, but realized that there was no time to hesitate. Wordlessly, the Minotaur brought down its war hammer with ground breaking force, and Taurus rose his meager axe to block the attack, however, it was all for naught. Taurus' axe split under the greater force, which went on to envelop him as well, and he was sent flying into the air beside him, disappearing curtly in a poof of smoke.

Levy was shocked by the new Spirit that had been summoned, clearly not expecting to ever see a Spirit that was physically stronger than Taurus. Lucy shared the same sentiments as her friend, however, she did not have time to ponder over it, as the Spirit immediately began charging towards her and Levy, hammer in tow. Behind the Spirit, Layla smiled grimly, her hands pursed towards her face and clenched in excitement, waiting eagerly for the attack that would snuff out the lives of her opponents.

It was Lucy's turn this time to move. Wasting no time, she brought out another of her Silver Keys, and before her manifested the Archer, **Sagittarius. **The horse man saw the opponent charging towards him swiftly, batted an eye in surprise, and quickly released a volley of arrows at the larger entity. The arrows bounced off the Minotaur's tough hide, and he progressed forward unfazed, swinging his hammer for the second time to eliminate the nuisances before his Master. Sagittarius was allowed a moment to panic before he was blown away, arrows and all, and suddenly Lucy found herself at the receiving end of the hammer. She placed a leg backwards in an attempt to escape, but soon realized that there was no room for escape this time. One leg backwards, she grit her teeth awaiting the inevitable, and was rewarded with a burst of air pressure next to her.

"**Solid Script: Iron!" **A mass of iron manifested itself in the air next to Lucy, meeting just in the nick of time with the rapidly descending war hammer. There was a smash, a moment of struggle between Levy's command and the Minotaur, and the mass of iron slowly began falling apart. This came unsurprisingly to Levy, since she knew that Taurus axe was made of the same material as the Iron in her spell. Sliding her hands in opposite directions ahead of her, she called out for her second move, **"Solid Script; Guard!", **the invisible barrier appearing moments after the iron barrier was shattered. Lucy was nearly thrown back by the resounding pressure, and managed to steady herself on her feet as she took relief in the fact that her best friend had managed to protect her in the nick of time. Levy smiled under her breath, knowing that if there was one thing she was confident in with her spells, it was the strength of the barriers she made.

The Minotaur struggled for a while as it tried to tear through Levy's barrier, and the look of satisfaction on Layla's face slowly melted away into one of impatience and disappointment. Since Lucy was still preoccupied with whatever Spirit she would use next, Levy took this as her cue to act, giving her best friend the much needed time to prepare a counter attack**. "Solid Script: Thunder!" **A swarm of clouds manifested itself above the Minotaur's head, and it only had a second to look upwards, since the next minute it was struck by several bolts of lightning. The Minotaur groaned in pain, loosening its grip on its hammer, as it faded away with its weapon back into the Celestial Spirit World. Layla was shocked, but she had no time to react, as immediately Levy sent out the bolts of thunder at the older woman. The first one made contact with her shoulder, temporarily paralyzing her as she was still struck with disbelief at the manner in which two of her spirits had already been defeated. The other thunder bolts from Levy's attack made their way to the struck woman, but to the blue haired woman's dismay, she was able to skillfully dodge and evade each of them. As she moved out of the way of the last one, that narrowly missed her foot, Layla paused for a moment to capture her breath. She had not expected the fight to take so long, as she had initially dismissed the two younger girls as grunts who would require minimal effort to be dispatched. Clearly, she had been mistaken, as she now found herself pondering over what would be her next move to get her out of the precarious situation she had found herself in. She had been on the defensive more times than she wished to admit, something that irked her.

As she was still caught up in her thoughts, however, she did not realize the new opponent that had appeared behind her, courtesy of Lucy's words. **"Open, Gate of the Giant Crab, Cancer!" **The humanoid crab appeared behind Layla within seconds, and Layla stifled a breath of surprise as she had not expected Lucy to retaliate so quickly. Lucy had made her choice, and in an instant, the crab was already after Layla with its pair of scissors. Layla placed her hands over her head in an attempt to protect herself; the next thing she was aware of was stinging pain on several parts of her body. Cancer moved quickly with his hands, shredding away at Layla's clothes and in some areas her skin, before retreating to his Master's side once he had made sure he had done lasting damage. Silently, Lucy and Levy watched as the older woman stayed unmoving on the ground before them, scratches and cuts on every part of her body. Lucy was tempted to think that they had managed to steal a victory for a moment, but her 'mom's' words before echoing in her mind anew, realized that it would be foolish of her to claim victory so soon into the game. If things were that simple her and her best friend would not be having as much trouble as they were currently experiencing.

A few seconds passed, none of the two parties making a move, and the silence somehow bothered Lucy. Her mom still sat on the ground quite a distance from the two, her hands still covering her face, and Lucy had to resist the temptation to call out to her and check that she had not given up by chance. It seemed quite a silly thought, but the more and more time passed, the more it seemed like a plausible thought. As Lucy was about to give in the eerie silence and open her mouth to address her 'mom', there was a stifle of laughter, coming from Layla. She uncovered her mouth and placed her hands upon her eyes, hiding whatever expression she had on them at the moment. However, underneath her hands a wide-eyed smile placated her mouth, and for some reason Lucy and Levy alike knew that she was not smiling out of happiness or anything positive. A second burst of laughter rented the air, followed by a third, and within a matter of minutes, Layla HeartFilia was laughing uncontrollably. The action sent shivers down Levy's spine, and she looked at her best friend, obviously trying to make light of the situation. Unfortunately, Lucy was also confounded by their opponent's actions just then, as she looked at her best friend with a visage full of confusion.

The bursts of laughter stopped momentarily, and Layla's mouth soon resumed into a stern expression. While she was amused with how things were unexpectedly going against her, she also found herself continuously irked with how she was losing. No, there was no way she was going to lose. Resolving her to crush the girls before her with every ounce of her power from that point on she uncovered her eyes and looked upon the girls with a deathly glare. Playtime, as she jokingly referred to it as, was officially over.

"I must say, Lucy, I'm impressed with how far you've come with the keys I passed on to you. I'll give you my praise," Layla started, her mouth seeming to move mechanically as she talked to her daughter, a dark tone to her voice. Lucy stared numbly at her enemy, at a loss for what to say, and gulped down the anxiety she was experiencing. The tense atmosphere that now surrounded the three girls was definitely not a good omen, proving that something was going to happen, and it was going to be huge. Layla opened her visage to speak to her daughter again, in that maddeningly patient and dark tone she had been using for a while now," But you know what? That just makes me want my keys back now. You've stayed with them for an awfully long time, you know?"

That was the last straw. A second later, Layla made a leap towards the two girls before her, brandishing yet another of her Silver Keys in her hand. Levy placed her hands before her in an attempt to prepare herself for whatever was to come, acting a moment too soon. **"Solid Script: Hole!" **The dark words from her spell manifested herself on the ground before her and just a stone's throw away from where Layla currently was. However, much to Levy's chagrin, the blonde older woman immediately leaped into the air, steer clear away from Levy's trap, and while in mid air, called forth her third spirit. There was a flash of light, and the next minute, a Spirit wielding a rapidly vibrating weapon appeared, descending towards the duo of Lucy and Levy at an increasing pace. Said weapon was soon realized to be a chain saw by Lucy, and accordingly, Cancer appeared before her, intending to block her from any attacks. Lucy silently rejoiced, clenching her fist in glee as she placed faith in the strength of Cancer's scissors, which had proved in the past to be powerful enough to cut through swords and hammers like butter.

Cancer leaped into the air, his scissors in tow as he prepared to combat the rapidly incoming danger. Lucy held her breath in anxiety, while rapidly thinking of whichever spirit she would summon next to finally end the fight once and for all, but the next thing she knew, Cancer had been cut through in clean halves, scissors and all. "Ebi," was all that he muttered as he faded away from the human realm, and Lucy was brought back to the harsh reality of an attack rapidly descending towards her. This time, she was lucky enough to be able to jump out of the way of the incoming attack. There was a crash as Layla's Spirit made contact with the ground where Lucy was standing a few seconds prior. The attacks were not about to end there. From the cloud of smoke and dust caused by the impact, the raging Spirit emerged once more, its target set upon Lucy.

"Wait-" Lucy started, but had no time to complete her sentence as she soon found herself dodging the razor sharp attacks with movements she didn't know her body possessed. Awkwardly shifting her hands, feet and torso, she somehow managed to dodge each and every attack, but realized that she would not be able to keep that up for long. Still, she knew that if that chainsaw touched her even once, she would be done for, so she had no choice but to make do with whatever means were presented before her for safety. Her face was currently contorted into a mixture of fear and disbelief, her eyes being forced to focus on the danger that now presented itself before her. She wouldn't even have the time to draw out any other keys, she realized with a resigned feeling in her chest.

"Lu-chan!" Levy screamed her friend's name; her heart growing with increasing worry over her friend's decreasing safety. She made a few symbols with her hands, intending to rescue her best friend, but to her shock, Layla HeartFilia landed in front of her, effectively cutting Lucy off from her vision. Levy's hands froze in mid air, now at a loss as to what to do. "Whoa there, little miss. I've seen just how powerful your **Solid Script** is, I'm not letting you rescue her any longer. Unfortunately, your opponent now is me," Layla said, a glum expression on her face. She was not going to be satisfied until she had reduced the two fairies to specks of dust underneath her feet.

Behind the two, there was a thud, and Levy was able to glimpse for a second above Layla's shoulder, her best friend was now sprawled on the ground. She seemed to have tripped on a rock in her path as she retreated. Levy's heart clenched itself in fear, as the looming form of Lucy's opponent neared the helpless girl. Lucy felt a sting of pain arising from the impact of the fall, and closed an eye to help ease the pain, before she saw the chainsaw rapidly descending to meet her neck. She made to move for another of her keys, but as her hand closed upon the last of her Golden Keys, the Maiden, **Virgo, **she was soon brought to the harsh reality that she had already used up all her magic. At the level she was at, summoning four Golden Spirits in succession was her limit. Her body froze in fear, as she realized that she was inches away from imminent death. Her eyes grew to the size of bulbs, her hands were covered in sweat, and all she could do was watch the chainsaw as it rapidly descended to separate her head from her body….

_Magnolia, Outskirts_

Erza, who was still trying to reel her head in over all that, had transpired in front of her eyes in the split second that had just passed. She was sure that she had managed to narrowly escape the jaws of death, thanks to her favorite pink-haired mage, but still, she was not sure she was content with how he had just saved her. The last time Natsu had to be in that form, due to eating **Etherion, **he had blessed with insurmountable power that allowed him to best one of the Ten Mage Saints. After the battle though, his body fell limply to the ground before him and she had to cradle him in her arms for a moment before his consciousness returned to him. Was the same thing going to happen before her eyes again? Erza thought, her heart growing heavy with worry and concern over her friend.

"Natsu-" she began, hoping that he would be able to read the concern in her voice and not push himself so much for her sake, but the pink haired man simply looked back at her with a smile. He was always like that, Erza thought, a slight feeling of nostalgia coursing through her body as she remembered how during times of grave peril, he would always wash away her worries with a smile. However, she was not sure if it would be enough this neither time, nor did she want to know, deciding to continue with her earlier statement. "You don't have to push yourself so much for my sake." Why was he always like this? Erza thought, feeling slightly angry at the man who would go through heaven and hell for her sake.

To her statement, however, Natsu batted an eye in surprise, not expecting her to come out and say something like that to him. It was somehow unlike Erza to say such things. He had to reassure her that everything would be okay, lest she would start crying again like she had before the beginning of his fight with Jellal. This time, there was no way he was going to let her cry. He would be her strength, like he had always promised he would be to her. "If it's for you, Erza, then I don't mind it at all," he voiced to her, in a sound only she could hear.

That was it. Erza realized, her heart steadily increasing in its beating in the moment he had said those words to her. What else was she supposed to do but put all her faith and hope in him? Erza looked downwards, away from the man, her hair covering her eyes, which threatened to burst out in tears of love and vigor. Underneath her cowered expression, she smiled from ear to ear, joy welling up inside her as she was finally sure of whatever she felt for him.

The moment of joy and bliss was cut short, as the short man that had been dear to Erza in her childhood, made a sudden leap for the pink haired man. It had taken him a while to regain his senses after being smacked senseless by Natsu in his new mode, but now his anger had reached boiling point. After such a disgraceful display, he was no longer going to give any leeway to the pink haired man, and later on, the red haired girl who he had been inches away from finishing off.

"Damn brat!" Rob shouted as he leaped towards Natsu, who still stood in front of Erza. His hand was coated in the red flames that he had intended to kill Erza with earlier, and this time he was sure to make sure that his attack did not miss. He inched closer and closer to Natsu's face, and somehow the pink haired man did not seem fazed by the incoming danger. It seemed a bit odd to the white haired man, but realizing that he had already gone too far to stop there, proceeded on with his attack. He was now within an inch of Natsu's face, and his face broke into a mischievous smile as he relished the thought of charring the younger boy's face. Suddenly, he realized that he was leaping at thin air, as there was no one ahead of him.

With an ear-shattering crash, Rob felt the impact of something hot and hard upon his frail back, and he had to grit his teeth for a minute as he was sure that he had definitely broken a rib just then. Natsu shouted**, "Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!" **in a raging voice, as he landed a bone-crushing punch to the back of the older man. Excruciating pain shot throughout Rob's body as his torso crashed into the cold hard ground before him, and he bounced slightly of it, a spurt of blood emerging from his face. Natsu was not quite done yet, the old man would soon come to realize in a fearful manner. These people had hurt Erza, and he was going to turn them all into dust.

As Rob's body bounced off the ground limply, Natsu was already next to him, using the astonishing increase in speed he was given whilst he was in **Dragon Force. **Rob blinked at the manner Natsu appeared next to him, only allowed a moment to gasp before Natsu sunk both of his feet into the man's torso, sending him flying a few feet away. **"Fire Dragon's Claw!" **The pink haired man shouted once more, watching the frail old man fly away. The next second, he appeared above his body, which now seemed broken and battered underneath the extreme force of Natsu's attacks. **"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" **Natsu created two arcs of fire with his arms, sending both of them at the man below him, who let out a slight groan of pain. Rob's body threatened to fall to the earth below him, but Natsu wouldn't have any of that. He grabbed the man by his shoulders, sending him airborne once more, before charging into him once more with the full weight of his body. **"Fire Dragon's Sword Edge!" **Rob's body, now covered in singes from Natsu's flames, fell back into the air once more, and Natsu sunk his elbow into the man's torso, effectively knocking the air out of him. **"Flaming Elbow!" **

Erza watched on in awe, impressed at the manner in which Natsu handled Rob as if he were a rug. Dragon Force was certainly a force to be reckoned with. Still, it didn't do anyone any good to drop her guard while she was in the midst of battle with two opponents. Erza immediately felt a rush of bloodlust from behind her, turning her head to meet Lisanna charging at her in her bird form, talons stretched in front of her. She was planning to sink them within Erza's body, snuffing out the life of the red head.

"Well, this came as a shocker, but seems like we're back to Stage 1, huh Erza? This time though, you're the one out of luck," Lisanna shouted, as she edged nearer and nearer to Erza. Erza, aware of the looming danger, made to move, but her lower body failed her again. She cursed her powerlessness, pounding the ground underneath her with her fist, but the next thing she felt was a rush of hair that sent her hair reeling backwards. She glanced behind her once more to find that Natsu was grabbing at one of Lisanna's talons with relative ease. The white haired girl was shocked, and she followed the single hand to find that Natsu had his eyes hidden by his pink locks. Fear grabbed at her, as she braced herself for the worst, but still that did not stop her from trying to appeal to her pink haired childhood friend.

"N-natsu? Let go of me, you're hurting me," Lisanna started, in that sickeningly sweet voice of hers that she had used to lure Natsu into his near-death earlier. For a moment, Erza thought that Natsu would waver as he had before, and held back a breath she did not realize was growing in her chest, watching the spectacle unfold before her eyes. Wordlessly, Natsu strengthened his grip on her talons, choosing to disregard the sweetness in which she had pleaded him to let go. Then, he looked at her with one eye, and Lisanna thought that for a moment he had set her insides on fire with that murderous glare.

"I told you…" he threw here towards where Rob's body was still in mid air, descending to the ground below. Lisanna tried to regain her balance and posture, but the air pressure resulting from the force at which Natsu had thrown her was incredible," not to place your filthy hands on her!" Erza felt a surge of reassurance and satisfaction racing through her body at this statement was pleasantly surprised. Earlier, she had taken note that Natsu had not let any emotions he felt for Lisanna to hold him back in throwing her off like that. She then realized that Natsu was serious about what he had said earlier about not letting either Rob or Lisanna hurt Erza more, and this brought a small red stain on her cheeks.

Natsu completed his earlier statement, his voice seemingly shaking with rage. He then leapt in the air towards the two, who had slammed into each other in an ungraceful manner, stretching his hands out beside him. **"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" **He shouted, bringing together his flame coated hands together, effectively releasing a fireball towards the two. There was a huge fiery explosion that ensued, and Erza thought she could hear muffled screams within the explosion. She was not given a chance to listen closer, as Natsu released yet another attack at the two bodies, this time his final attack that would bring the long battle to a close. **"Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!" **He swirled his hands into a circular fashion, creating a powerful and destructive torrent of flames that charged at his opponents. The explosion caused by this attack was bigger than the one from his **Brilliant Flame** attack earlier, and something within Erza told her that the battle was already decided with that move. True to her gut feeling from earlier, once the explosion cleared out and she could now see the damage that Natsu had caused, she saw the two bodies of her opponents fall limply to the ground. There was a soft thud as the two bodies landed, and then they lay on the ground, unmoving, the life beaten out of them. Erza brought her hands to her mouth in joy. The fight that they had been having for a long while now was over, thanks to her favorite Dragon Slayer. It was then that she realized that she had been so focused on her opponents that she had forgotten to check on Natsu for a while, so she darted her eyes away from the wreckage her had caused and frantically searched the area for him.

She did not have to search long, since the next minute she saw him cheerfully running at her. She heaved a sigh of relief, noting with increasing happiness that he had not collapsed to the ground like the last time he had entered that state. Still, she had to brace herself for anything, she realized, so she did not fully allow herself to relax until he reached her and kneeled in front of her, and she could see the bright expression on his face up close. The red markings that had adorned his body beforehand had all disappeared, leaving in their wake a few bruises and scalds from earlier, but it wasn't anything to hard for him to endure.

He smiled at her once more, and then told her gleefully, in his usually relaxed voice," I did it, Erza!" If he were standing up, there was a chance that he would beat his fist into the air to display the happiness he felt at finally beating the people who had made Erza cry. Erza found her equally as happy as him, and could not stop herself from what she was going to do next. She only realized it once she had done it. Leaping off the ground with her upper body only, she placed her arms around the pink-haired boy's neck, drawing him in closer for a well-deserved hug. Her mouth now rested close to his ear, and she uttered silently to him," Thank you."

Natsu, not expecting such an act from Erza, widened his eyes in surprise. The vibrant smile that had adorned his face a small while ago all but vanished, and he was flustered as to the red-haired girl's sudden action. He felt something warm inside him, but at the same time, he couldn't help but feel as if that was where he belonged, in Erza's arms. He had experienced plenty of hugs from the red-haired girl several times in their childhood, but somehow this time it felt…._special. _Something also nagged away at his insides that he should also respond in kind to the gesture from his red-haired knight, and he acted upon it, slowly raising his hands to hold her from behind. Once he had made contact with her skin, he felt her slightly squirm underneath his hold, but this did not deter him from holding her firmly. Placing his head atop her shoulder gently, he soon realized that he could feel something soft ahead of him, so he opened his eyes slightly to see that he was touching her hair slightly with his face. It felt so soft. He took in a whiff of her hair, relishing the nectar smile from her beautiful crimson hair, then admitted to him, inwardly,

"_She smells kinda nice."_

Something then popped up in his head, and he remembered something Erza had told him prior to their unexpected battle with the Myria, so he wrenched himself slowly from her hold and looked at her pensively. He did not know why he had not remembered such an important issue till now. Still, he was glad that he had remembered it, deciding not to waste a second longer in learning whatever it was that Erza had intended to tell him. Erza, who was slightly disappointed that she couldn't bathe in his warmth for a second longer, became aware of the serious manner in which he was staring at her, and had to look away for a moment since it felt as if she was being undressed by his piercing look.

"Erza," Natsu started, in a curious manner, "before the fight started, you told me there was something you wanted to tell me. What did you want to tell me?" He concluded his query, his gaze never breaking from the red haired girl.

Erza's heart almost leaped out of her chest as she had not expected Natsu to ask something of that magnitude. While the matter had lingered in her mind throughout the entire battle and she had not forgotten a single bit of it, she had intended to tell him of her own accord, not because he had edged her on. This had turned into quite an awkward situation for the red-haired girl, and her mind began racing with excuses that she would use to escape the situation. However, a small voice in her mind spoke up at that point, a voice that she preferred not to listen to in situations like the present one.

_Really? After all that has happened, you still want to wait longer before telling him?_

The red haired girl was startled by the voice of logic in her mind, and the steadily increasing rate of her heartbeat slowed down. The voice was right. There was really no reason to hold back after all that had happened. After all, when he entered Dragon Force for her sake and reassured her that as long as it was for her sake, he wouldn't hesitate one bit, hadn't she been completely sure then? Or maybe long ago before then, but she had just realized it in the course of the fight she had been in with Natsu? Natsu was willing to risk everything for her, and yet here she was still fidgety with something he wanted to know. The realization mad Erza feel a bit shameful of herself. If Natsu was willing not to hesitate about fighting for her, then she had no business hesitating in telling him how she really felt for him. Suddenly, she realized that she was sure about this. About everything. She had never been so sure about anything else more than what was going to happen from that point on.

Exhaling slowly in an attempt to calm herself, she steadied the beating of her heart and the rapid movements of her chest as she looked into Natsu's dark eyes. He still waited for an answer from her, looking at her with an ever-growing curiosity. Erza found his facial expression just then to be really cute. She wondered how she would begin to tell him the magnitude of what she felt for him, when she realized that she was lost for words. Or rather, she did not know where she would start. She averted her gaze away from Natsu's for a minute, and her eyes came to rest upon the milky white scarf on his neck. Bingo.

She raised her hands that were resting on the ground beneath her slowly upwards, still keeping her eyes upon Natsu's scarf. Placing both her hands on the scarf's sides, and to her relief finding that Natsu offered no resistance to her action, she tightened her grip on Igneel's memento. She then parted her lips to talk to the man, having remained silent for an awfully long amount of time, "Natsu." She started. Natsu said nothing, and she took it as a sign of him urging her to go on. "I want you to promise me that you will not run away or be freaked out by what I'm about to do to you." Natsu, a bit perplexed as to where Erza was going with this, nodded his head absent mindedly. Once he had agreed, however, he gasped a little, increasingly aware of just how close his face was to Erza's. The heat he had felt earlier from Erza's hug returned, this time however it felt somewhat stronger. In his chest, he could feel his heart beat erratically, and he was suddenly short of breath.

It happened in one moment. Erza looked up into his face once more, tugging at the edges of his scarf slightly, pulling him forward. Her lips parted, and the next minute, Natsu found his own set of lips resting upon the red haired girls. His eyes widened in surprise, as he came to the shocking realization that Erza was kissing him. His insides were squirming violently as the heat in him threatened to burst out. His arms flailed weakly at his sides for a moment, but he realized that he did not want this moment to end any sooner. So he allowed himself to be taken in by the red haired girl. She tasted like the strawberry cakes she loved so much, Natsu realized, as she had shared them with him once. He loved what he tasted.

Erza, on the other hand, had gotten over the initial shock of what she had just done, her heart still beating erratically, as she tasted the pink haired man's lips. She realized that the man tasted a bit hot, like the fire he spewed often from his mouth, but somehow she did not mind the taste. It coursed through her entire body, sending all her thoughts and body functions into disarray. She had never tasted anything quite as sweet as Natsu in her entire leaf.

After a few seconds of lip-locking, Erza separated herself from the pink haired man, a tinge of guilt in her chest telling her that she might have gone a bit too far with what she had done. She could still feel his fiery lips on hers, and wanted to taste him once more, but she suppressed her desires and refocused herself on what she still had not done. Blushing furiously, she looked into Natsu's eyes, as she wanted him to see the sincerity in her eyes and not just the truth in her words, she said to him, in a calmer voice than she had expected,

"I love you…..Natsu."

There was a moment of silence after those words, Erza allowing them to sink into him as much as they had into her already her. There was a lot more she wanted to add on, but she felt as if those three words enough were proof of the strength of the feelings she felt for the dragon slayer. She looked at Natsu the whole time through her confession, and with a slight pang of pain, saw him look down to the ground that lay between them, keeping his eyes hidden underneath his hair. For a maddening second, Erza thought that maybe, just maybe, she had taken a wrong step, and tears threatened to well up in her eyes as she took Natsu's silence as a sign of silent rejection.

What Natsu did next shook Erza to her core. He placed his hands on her shoulders, to her confusion this time, then pushed her backwards gently onto the ground beneath her, and as she struggled with wondering what on earth he was doing, she found the fiery taste of his lips upon hers again. Erza's eyes widened in disbelief as she realized that Natsu Dragneel was kissing her. But of course, she realized, with a mildly surprised feeling, Natsu was always one to let his actions speak on his behalf. Closing her eyes underneath the warmth of his face, she slowly wrapped her arms around his back, melting further into the kiss that was a sign of their newly discovered love.

**A/N: **Just in case you have not noticed, the manner in which Natsu defeated Rob and Lisanna was similar to how he took out Laxus in the Fighting Festival Arc. Somehow I felt as if the relentless attacks he used to finish off Laxus were a perfect fit for someone that had hurt his beloved Erza. As usual, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and coming up next chapter, MAJOR SMUT! Or maybe not? Read to find out!

**P.S:** Don't forget they are still on a mission, so the story isn't over just yet xD. Peace!


	15. I Love You

**Chapter 14**

**I Love You**

**"You are so warm"-Gray Fullbuster**

From the moment Natsu kissed her a second time, Erza Scarlet realized it. She should have realized it from the first time, however, owing to how Natsu offered no resistance to her chaste kiss, so a small part of mind berated her for being slow on the uptake. That feeling, however, like all the feelings she was experiencing at the moment, was drowned in the warmth of the pink haired man taste on her lips.

Natsu Dragneel still had her lips captured in a kiss, covering her mouth completely in a way that she found herself slowly running out of air. The kiss itself was magical; she had not expected it to feel so good from someone that did not seem to give much thought to such matters as he carried himself so nonchalantly. Erza kissed Natsu back with as much passion as she could, for what seemed to be a minute, before she broke away from his lips to breathe. She did manage to succeed, albeit for a second, for the next thing she knew Natsu had captured her lips again in a hot kiss.

This time, the man went a step further, pushing his tongue past his mouth and asking for entrance inside Erza's mouth. The red haired girl was all too willing to allow his tongue to pleasure the insides of her mouth, but of course, this time she had her own few tricks to try herself. She had managed to adjust to Natsu's fiery momentum, kissing him back with as much ferocity as he was her. Her tongue danced with him inside her mouth for a while, before she managed to regain control and push her tongue inside his mouth this time. She loved the taste of him as she explored every inch of the Dragon Slayer's mouth. He tasted like fire. The pink haired man relished the taste of his beloved inside his mouth, tilting his head to the side to allow himself to kiss her more and explore more of her mouth.

Natsu was not quite done yet, as his hands, which were resting on both sides beside Erza's head, moved from their original position and captured Erza's shoulders. The red haired woman was startled by the sudden gesture, that sent jitters through her spine, but Natsu proceeded to astonish her more by running his hands along the length of her arms. He was moving purely by instinct, she could tell, as he did not avert his attention away from her face to look at his hands, which made the red head wonder whether he had actually done this sort of thing before. Erza loved his touches, feeling the jitters within her increasing with the downward motion of Natsu's arm. His hands came to rest atop hers, and she placed her smaller hands into his bigger ones. They fit perfectly.

As Erza continued kissing Natsu, occasionally pushing her tongue into him and allowing him to do the same to her, she felt his hands slowly slip away from hers. Disappointed as she was satisfied with feeling her fingers entwined with his, she gasped a little when his hands moved to just below her breasts, holding onto both sides of her torso. She was still clad in her skin tight **Lightning Empress Armor, **so she could feel the heat on Natsu's hand as he held lightly onto her. The hands moved southward from that area, filling Erza with a growing sense if anxiety, her mind already reeling with all the possibilities that would happen from that point onward. Her first thought, of course, was that Natsu was already heading for her womanhood. True enough, she could feel heat rising from the area between her legs, and her cheeks were turning a deep shade of crimson in kind.

The red haired girl was not sure exactly what to feel about having her first time in a field in the middle of nowhere, but her heart assured her that as long as she was with Natsu, she would not mind being anywhere in the world with him at that moment. His hands reached the section just above her legs where her waist line was, and Erza allowed herself to relax as she awaited the inevitable.

It didn't come.

Instead, Natsu's hands just rested on her waist, catching her on both sides firmly. The fact that his hands had stopped just short of her legs came as a surprising disappointment to her, but Erza realized that it was Natsu's way of telling her that he had finally caught her and that he wasn't about to let go of her. That may have been the case, however, Erza had a funny notion that the man was simply still hesitant about exploring the parts of her body that she wouldn't allow anyone access to, being content with simply feeling her up a little as he delved into the pleasure of kisses.

This second notion, particularly, was amusing to Erza, such that when Natsu caught her lips in a kiss for the umpteenth time, she smiled under his loving warmth.

Natsu was the one who broke away from her this time, looking at her curiously from his current position on top of her. As he stared into her dark orbs, he could feel himself getting lost in them, and for a maddening second he was about to kiss her again, but his senses came back to him in the nick of time, and he remembered himself. As he slowly became aware of the situation between him and Erza at the moment, there was a look of guilt on his face and he arched his body backwards to create considerable distance between him and the girl, but Erza held him in place by the edges of his coat.

She looked at him softly, and asked him in a voice mirroring the look in her eyes at the moment," What's wrong?"

The Dragon Slayer was finding it increasingly uncomfortable to look into her eyes just then, which were filled with affection and love for him, so he decided to look sideways," I'm sorry," his tone held a certain weight of sadness in it," I shouldn't have done that. I wanted to actually tell you that I felt the same way." The second part of the sentence he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head to abate his growing embarrassment.

Erza widened her eyes in surprise, not expecting him to be worried over something like that. Even in a situation like that, he was still worried about felt her heart skip a beat, before she placed a hand atop his rosy hair.

Ruffling it softly, she arched her body slightly forward to close the distance with him," It's okay. You still said it, well with the kissing and all."

Natsu's cheeks grew a faint shade of crimson in embarrassment, and he looked more intently to his side," You didn't have to say it that way!" The tone of his voice just then was flustered, surprising Erza even further, as it was the first time she had seen Natsu that visibly flustered. Natsu, on the other hand, was caught up in a flurry of thoughts on how kissing the girl you loved was a tad embarrassing.

The knight chuckled," You're kind of cute when you act like this, you know?"

Her hand that had come to rest on the top of his head then moved slowly to his cheek, cupping it slowly. Natsu mused on the fact that she felt so warm, and when he looked at her face, he found her smiling brightly at him. He smiled back at her in kind, and for a moment, nothing needed to be said between the two. Everything was perfect. A second later, however, Erza felt tears stinging at the corners of her eyes, and before long, she allowed them to flow freely down her cheeks.

The pink haired man's smile vanished just as quickly as it had formed. He inched his face closer to Erza's tear stricken one, his face contorted in an expression of worry and fear. "What's wrong?" A nasty feeling in his gut told him that he had unknowingly done something to make her cry. It made his insides churn in anger at himself.

Instead, she brought up her second free hand to Natsu's other cheek, now cupping both his cheeks in her hands. She shook her head slightly in response to his question, then in a voice full of emotion, said," Nothing. I never thought that you would feel the same way for me. I'm just so happy right now. When I think of how precious you've become to me, it makes me want to cry in happiness. I've never felt this strongly about anyone before. I…."

At this juncture, Natsu pressed his forehead down on Erza's forehead, silencing her from her unexpected emotional outburst. His eyes were closed, and Erza's body nearly jolted from the sudden contact. Her cheeks blazed the same color for a moment as she half expected Natsu to kiss her once more, but he stayed in that position for a while longer.

A few moments of silence elapsed, before Natsu finally spoke up in a calm voice," Hey, calm down. You know this is all a first for me too." Erza was slightly taken aback by this revelation, but it served to dispel the doubts she had earlier regarding Natsu having been this intimate with another girl before.

He continued," Honestly, I don't know what is going to happen to us from now on, or what the future holds for us, but one thing I do know," he opened his eyes at this point and looked into Erza's eyes, a loving glance that would allow her to see not only the genuineness in his voice, but also the sincerity in his eyes," is that I love you. Erza, I love you."

The red haired girl's eyes, which were no longer brimming with tears, shined at Natsu's confession, and her cheeks turned red for the second time within a matter of seconds. She certainly had not expected him to come out and say something so embarrassing, although she could not hide the feeling inside her of her heart melting.

Nodding, she placed her hands on his shoulders, to draw him in for another kiss, when a foreign sound interrupted the two.

Someone whistled at a nearby location to the duo on the ground, prompting them to shift their gaze to their left. Leaning on one of the nearby trees, Gray Fullbuster had his hands folded at his chest, and he was looking at Natsu and Erza with a slightly bemused expression on his face. His shirt was unbuttoned.

"Well, well, Natsu, I didn't know you had it in you," he said in a skeptical manner, the jab intended at the Fire Dragon Slayer.

Beside him, a blue haired woman stood regarding the couple before her with amazement, her hands covering her mouth and her face completely reddened. She remarked," How lovely. Juvia is so impressed!"

Natsu looked as if he had just seen a ghost, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets and his mouth wide agape and shaking slightly as he struggled to form a coherent sentence. "Gray?! " He managed to speak up finally. "You…How long have you been there?!"

The dark haired man chuckled a little, before smirking," Since the very beginning."

The Dragon Slayer was flabbergasted, raising his hands wide in the air," EEEEEEEEEH?!" Erza, who was still below him, took this as a chance to slip away from the man's hold, clearing her throat as she tried to steady her nerves and will away her reddened cheeks.

The Water Mage drew closer to Gray, before saying dreamily, her eyes twinkling like stars," Juvia wants to get like that with Gray-sama one day."

The Ice Mage sweat dropped a little as he did not know how to answer that question. Erza took this chance to interject into the conversation," You guys…what you are doing here?"

Gray sighed in relief, lucky that the subject had been changed, and he and Juvia made themselves comfortable where Natsu and Erza were currently seated. He started," Well, the truth is that we came here because we wanted to make sure that the two of you ran into….a certain kind of trouble."

Erza placed her hands on her chest in curiosity," What kind of trouble?" She had a feeling she had a perfectly good idea of what Gray was referring to.

Juvia interjected at this scene, "It's a certain new type of magical creature, called a Myria. We encountered it on Galuna Island, when we went there to see Gray-sama's teacher's memento. It nearly killed Gray-sama, and would have killed me too, if it wasn't for help from Lamia Scale."

Natsu stifled a chuckle at this news, and pointed at Gray," That's lame man," he said, while looking at Gray, who looked at the Dragon Slayer defiantly. He was visibly embarrassed, of course, but he managed to recompose himself to continue on what Erza had said," Actually, Jura-san told us that it was imperative we come check on you, and any other Fairy Tail members that were out on jobs or for any other business to make sure that they were under attack by the Myria as well."

Erza nodded her head brusquely at the information," Leave it to Jura-san to think of something like that. So Lamia Scale is helping out too, that's a big help. Is there any news of what these magical creatures are planning or what their objective is?"

Gray shook his head in response, before saying," About that, there's no news on any of their objectives, even Jura said that they didn't know possess that much information about them. They seemed to have started moving quite recently, so at the moment it's quite hard to say."

Erza wore a concerned expression on her visage at that moment, but knew it would not do well to linger on such a vague matter. She looked at Gray and Juvia before her and smiled at them reassured," Thanks for coming, you two, you'll be a great help. Regarding why you came here, we managed to fend off the two Myria that attacked us, but the job isn't over yet, so we'll be counting on you a lot from now on."

Unexpectedly, Natsu protested, looking extremely dissatisfied,"I don't need their help!" He said in a raised voice, pointing accursedly at Gray and Juvia. Gray was confused by his outburst," Huh? What did you just say, flame brain?!"

Natsu pouted, "I can handle the rest by myself. No problem there!" He then flexed his muscles to show that he was in tip-top condition, earning a sigh of exasperation from Gray and Erza.

The red haired girl, who was seated in front of the pink haired man, abruptly smacked him on his back. The effect was instantaneous; Natsu's body fell to the ground, riddled with pain as he doubled over on the ground and tried to get up. It proved surprisingly difficult.

"But…how?" He asked as soon as he had steadied himself upright again.

Erza towered over him, looking at him with a resigned tone," Dummy. You went all out earlier to defeat those two earlier. Dragon Force always leaves you like this."

The red haired girl did not leave him further room to protest, shifting back her attention to Gray and Juvia," And with that, you two are welcomed to the team."

**A/N: **A short chapter, I know, so my apologies on that part. This chapter was supposed to have a little smut (my first attempt at smut, I know its iffy~.~) and a heart to heart between Erza and Natsu as they grew more aware of their feelings for each other, plus a reunion with Gray and Juvia (I kinda feel as if this was the best pair to meet up with them here, for reasons that will become more evident in future). I hope this chapter turned out well, I'm really sorry for the lengthy delay in updating, I promise the next update won't take as long, plus will be longer than this chapter.

On another note, HOT DAMN MASHIMA! XD A naked battle next week? Sign me the fuck up!


	16. Success

**Chapter 15**

**Motive**

The chainsaw rapidly descended on the blonde girl, and as it glimmered red in the light of the setting sun, for a moment Lucy could swear that she saw her life flashing before her eyes. In that one moment, she also caught the reflection of her visage on the surface of the razor blade weapon.

That must have been what had caused her entire body to go numb, as she found herself losing all feeling in her limbs, and aside from the ripping sound of the chainsaw as it ripped through the air, the other sound she registered was that of her best friend calling out to her from somewhere behind her. Levy was well out of sight now, the blue haired girl's vision being marred by 'Layla'. Despite the fact that Lucy could hear Levy's voice, she couldn't see her, so it seemed as if she was the only one in the world at that moment. It was kind of ironic now that she reflected on it, when she had set out on her journey to join the infamous guild she had heard of in her youth, Fairy Tail, she had been all alone back then as well. And now it seemed as if she was also going to die alone.

But alas, it seemed as if fate had different plans for her, at least for that day.

Her vision was suddenly clouded, and the next sound that registered in her ears was a sharp clank, as one metal surface clashed with another, and suddenly sparks crossed before her eyes, at least from the corner of her vision that was not impeded by the shadow that had appeared before her.

That just then, plus the sudden gust of wind that she felt across her body, riled her up and sent feeling coursing through her body once more, from her head to the tips of her toes. She looked up at the looming shadow that had proved to be her savior, and a single word escaped her lips.

"Gajeel?"

There was no way she could fail to recognize that messy shade of raven hair, plus that tattered jacket that flapped so freely in the wind as a result of Gajeel's timely entrance just then. As if to clear the remaining of her doubts muddled with her disbelief at said moment, soon after her single word was uttered there was that menacing laugh that originated from the Dragon Slayer as soon as he dispatched the descending attack from the chainsaw wielding spirit that would have no doubt bifurcated Lucy. At least that was what the blonde girl picked up from her point of vision.

"Gee-hee."

As soon as he had released his laugh in a low guttural sound, he threw his arms to the side, effectively throwing the spirit back and sending it flailing into the air behind it. Clenching his fists at his side, he took in a mouthful of magic, before releasing it all in one attack.

"Iron Dragon's Roar!"

The breath attack dispersed from Gajeel's mouth, enveloping the Spirit which was trying to compose itself and stage a counterattack. There was a screeching sound as Gajeel's breath of iron blades torn asunder through the air, enveloping everything within its radius, which included the spirit as well. That was the last that Lucy saw of the Spirit, but when she squinted her eyes closer into the swirling vortex of iron blades, she saw something that looked like sparks.

As soon as the magical attack died down and there was no trace of her enemy anymore before her, Lucy released a breath which she did not know she was holding in at said moment. Well, it seemed that she was going to live…at least for now. Still, she had to admit that it was weird having the Iron Dragon Slayer save her, although thanks were well in order, so she was extremely thankful for having him appear when he did. Edging her body forward to say something to the man, as warmth spread out through her body once more to abate the chill that had enveloped her moments before, she opened her mouth, only to feel a sudden chill behind where she was. The drop in temperature behind her back sent the hairs at the nape of her neck standing, and she found herself dreading to look behind her, where she remembered that her best friend was.

She still turned her head to look behind her, and had only a moment to glance from the corner of her eye, before she felt something hold on to her waist firmly, before she was yanked back forcefully. The impromptu force caused her to inadvertently open her mouth and take a whiff of air, since at that moment it was like someone or something had squeezed out the air from her in a slow manner. As she moved back, however, she had a chance to glance on both sides of her, where she was sure that her comrades were.

On one side, she was Gajeel leaping out of the way, in the same direction that she felt herself moving in, although luckily for him he hadn't exactly been yanked by something that he had no control over. Good. That meant that whatever was happening to her at that moment was normal, or at least she wanted to hope so.

On the other side, however…..

**Ice Make: Diamond Cage.**

From the tone of that voice, Lucy definitely knew that was _not _Gray at all. A vague image appeared in her mind just then of another Ice Mage, who happened to use his techniques with the same signature chant as Gray.

**Doll Magic: Rock Doll.**

That line, just then, explained a lot. She had a feeling that it was also the reason she had been yanked away in the first place, plus it also confirmed to her who the Ice Mage was. As much as she was grateful to the presence of the duo that she had crossed one time in her life, one had to ask what exactly they were doing there, alongside the Iron Dragon Slayer from her guild as well.

In an instant, her 'mother' was encased in a diamond sized sphere, which covered her from the base of her neck till her legs, rendering her completely immobile, if only that moment. That alone, would have been enough to seal the fight for good, but of course, Lucy had to remind herself that Sherry Blendy did not particularly like being left out of anything that her beloved Lyon Vastia was involved in. Even if it involved taking down a powerful opponent that each of the two would be able to handle one on one, in the enemy's current state.

Lyon's initial attack was soon quickly followed by an attack from the cherry haired woman, which consisted of a gigantic rock doll that emerged from the ground, and as soon as it had completely manifested itself in its entire glory, it landed a bone crushing blow to the trapped opponent. The Myria was blown away instantly, the ice around it shattering into countless shards as it soared into the space that was created by Gajeel and Lucy's momentary retreat, and coming to a halt on the ground just before the two Fairy Tail mages. As it lay on the ground, all devoid of all consciousness, a small flash of light enveloped it, causing Lucy and the rest to fret a little as they prepared for the worst. Soon enough however, the light ebbed away, and what remained was the enemy, but this time reduced to their original form. And it moved no more.

The Celestial Mage watched the beast for a while longer, unsure of what to make of it and the entire situation that had unfolded before her. She was glad that the enemies that had been plaguing them were defeated, of course, but on the other hand, she had to admit it left a really weird feeling in you seeing your mom getting beaten to a pulp by your friends. She brushed off the weird feeling and pushed it to the recesses of her mind, before finally deciding that the tide had died and nothing more would come from the body. Once she was sure of this, she heaved a sigh of relief, for the second time in a matter of minutes, before turning to look in the direction of her best friend, to check if the petite girl was fine.

"Gajeel! Why are you here?"

Well, that did clear up the first of her worries, so it was definitely a good start. As the blue haired girl got to her feet from where she had lost balance before due to the sudden appearance of her enemy before, Lucy also took heart in the fact that her best friend had no injuries. Still, that did not mean that Levy was not short of breath as she dusted herself once she had managed to stand up, and her eyes seemed as if they were about to pop out of their sockets as she was looking at Gajeel. Her hand was pressed to her chest as she tried to calm her now quickened breathing, although a small part of Lucy had a feeling that underneath all that fatigue was a glimmer of excitement in the girl from seeing Gajeel. It was kind of heartwarming when Lucy thought of it that way.

The dark haired man, who was now standing beside Lucy with both his hands in his pocket, had soon fallen back into his aloof demeanor, owing to the look on his face when he turned to look at Levy. "You have the cue ball to thank for that."

Lucy was confused at first as to whom this cue ball was that Gajeel was referring to, but soon enough Sherry Blendy cleared it up for her. One of the red haired woman's hands, which were resting on her waist before, moved up and she brushed a hand through her wavy hair before she replied to Gajeel with a defiant expression on her face. "Hey, hey, that's Jura-san to you. Address him with the proper honorifics." Her gaze then turned to Lucy who was on the ground next to Gajeel, before a small chuckle escaped her lips and she brought a hand to her mouth to stifle the laugh that threatened to break out in a few minutes.

A vein popped on Lucy's forehead, as she knew what was going to come next from the red haired girl. That was to be expected however, since the two had already established a healthy dislike for each other from the first time they met each other, something which did not seem as if it was it was going to change anytime soon owing to the way they acted around each other.

"Ara, I didn't think after all this time you would still be the same helpless girl who needed to get saved all the time. I guess some things never really change, huh?"

She made sure to add just the right amount of scorn in that final part of the sentence so that it would rile up Lucy enough. Unfortunately for the Lamia Scale girl, her little taunt just then did not go unnoticed by Lucy, but she was not planning to let herself get drawn in by it. Dusting herself as she got off the ground properly for the first time in a while, Lucy looked at Sherry with a glazed look in her eyes, accompanied by slight irritation. There were a lot of things that popped up in her mind that she could have used to retort, but since she was a little out of it and the moment and not really feeling up to bickering with Sherry, she chose to keep things simple.

"It's lovely to see you again, Sherry."

Lucy made to sure to dapple her voice with just enough sarcasm for the red haired girl to take note of. The scowl that appeared on the red haired girl's face showed that Lucy had succeeded in riling her up. She took great pride in that and smiled under her breath a little, making sure not to let Sherry take note of that.

Gajeel, not particularly interested in whatever Lucy or Levy had to say at the moment, turned to look at Lyon and Sherry with a grin on his face. "Heh, not bad for a couple of tag alongs. You took down that impostor pretty easily."

Lyon scoffed, before turning his head to the side with his eyes closed in a cool fashion. "What, it was nothing hard. From the creature that was attacking Lucy it was easy to tell that she was a summoner of sorts, which made a Holder Type wizard. Most Holder type wizards tend to be physically weak." As he talked, Lucy took the time to analyze the snow haired man, and she wasn't particularly comfortable with what she saw. His face plus sections of his hands were covered with bandages, an indication that there was a chance that he had just come from a battle.

That prompted the Celestial Wizard to direct a question at the Ice Wizard. In hindsight, it was something that she should have asked earlier, but initial conversation had to be gotten out of the way. "What are you guys doing here?"

While Lucy was indeed surprised by Gajeel showing up out of the blue like that, what had the lion's share of her attention at that moment was the impromptu appearance of the Lamia Scale members that had accompanied Gajeel. Is this a matter that they had to get involved in as well?

"Sherry pointed towards Lyon with her thumb from where she stood beside him, closing one eye as she responded to Lucy's query just then. "It's because this idiot couldn't sit still knowing that his rival was out there in action." The events from the moment that the trio of Jura, Sherry and Lyon had showed up at Fairy Tail with news on what had happened in Galuna Island were still fresh in Sherry's mind. By that time Gray had recovered enough to move on his own, so when Makarov had asked for volunteers to go and check up on the duos of Natsu &amp; Erza plus Lucy &amp; Levy, the dark haired man had immediately chipped in that he would go, before anyone else in the guild could seize that opportunity. That had ultimately led to Lyon deciding to go as well, but owing to Makarov's request, Gajeel was sent to go with them as well.

Sherry's statement just then sent Lyon into a state of fluster as he immediately forgot his initial cool demeanor, turning to look at the girl beside him with an uneasy look on his face and his arms flailing around in the air towards Sherry. "Hey Sherry, you didn't need to…."

Gajeel muttered, "Lame."

Lyon pretended not to notice that low key jab at him from the dark haired man, and refocused his attention to Lucy, aiming to set things straight. He cleared his throat. "Long story short, your Master sent to us to check up on you guys and see if you were okay, plus have you returned to Magnolia as soon as possible."

"Return to Magnolia? Why?" Levy asked, a tad confused as to the development of things. Besides, she was still on a trip with her best friend so going back to the guild did not seem too appealing at the moment.

"There's a chance that the city might soon under siege by these strange creatures," Gajeel explained, as he walked past where Lucy was standing, and also passed the other four people who were with him in the opposite direction to Apocrypha. As he passed by Levy however, he placed a hand on her head, surprising her little and causing her cheeks to get flushed. "Come on. Let's go."

His hand left the top of her head, to her slight dismay, and with that he took his place at the forefront of the group. The man was not intending to waste any more time dilly dallying here more than he already had, and he was giving the group behind him little to no chance of not following after him soon. Lyon and Sherry looked at each other for a while, the silver haired man obviously disgruntled with the turn of events. Sherry subtly picked up on the dismay that showed up on Lyon's face, as much as he tried to hide it. She had a feeling that it had something to do with being summoned back to Magnolia so quick after just being dispatched less than a couple of hours back, but even then, she found herself slightly amused by Lyon's behavior. It was part of the reason she had fallen in love with him in the beginning.

She would be having none of that though, as she forcefully took Lyon's hand and led him in Gajeel's direction, effectively having the two Lamia Scale mages vacate the premises.

Lucy and Levy followed soon after the two, all original intentions Lucy had of seeing her dad that day well under the rug by now. But oh well, she figured that as soon as the tide waned, she would get another chance later on, and this time she wouldn't just be attacked out of the blue like what had impeded her the first time. As she was walking however, something, something that she could not exactly place her finger on at said moment caused her to turn back and look behind her, where her fallen opponent was on the ground, still unmoving and its arms and legs sprawled beside it. She studied the fallen creature for a moment, not exactly sure what she was supposed to look for at that moment, but perhaps it had something to do with her mom.

"Lu-chan? Are you okay?" Levy said beside her, bringing her back to reality. Lucy got out of her little daze with a startle, and then when she turned to look beside her she found Levy's gaze focused on her with a worried look. The blue haired Solid Script seemed to read what was going on in the blonde girl's head just then, so she could not help but worry for her. It was a given, after all. Lucy had just been forced to battle her mother, so if more than anything; she was okay after that, which would actually be weirder, in Levy's book.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay. It's nothing."

"Does it feel weird?"

Lucy was taken aback by the sudden query, not expecting Levy to come out and ask her something like that so directly, but even then, she was her best friend for times like this.

"Kind of, I have a feeling this thing might know something about my mom that I didn't know, but well waking it up and causing it to raise havoc once more is certainly not worth the trouble. Let's go, Levy-chan."

And with that, the two girls deserted the area, a new destination in mind.

_Somewhere outside Magnolia_

"Damn, after all that this is what we got in the end?" Gray said, being the first one to break the ice after the group had successfully completed the initial initiative. The four had walked in silence for a while, and since Gray found the mood surprisingly stale, he decided to say something in order to break the monotone of the atmosphere.

All that had followed ever since he and Juvia had joined Natsu and Erza had been surprisingly anticlimactic, well, according to Gray anyway. They were soon able to find a cave near where the area that Natsu &amp; Erza had just come from fighting in; where they found the kid that the Dragon Slayer and the Knight had been assigned to finding in the first place. The kid seemed to be dead at first owing to the cold nature of his body at touch and how he was unmoving plus he had his eyes closed, causing Erza to worry for a while, something that caused her to shake Gray and Juvia violently for a few minutes as she tried to calm herself down. Luckily enough, and much to Gray's relief, soon enough Natsu was able to cakm Erza down by checking on the kid's physical state by placing his head to his heart, and once he had confirmed that the kid's heart was still beating, the rest of the group were able to rest easy.

"Don't complain. After all we had to get through to get here; I'd say this was a trip well worth it," Erza said. She was currently walking with both her hands folded underneath her chest, and a mellow look on her face as they had finally managed to accomplish their job. The pain that had racked her body earlier from the gruesome fight she had just come from was now receding, and even if she wasn't at 100% yet, she had managed to recover enough of her energy to move about and enough magic for a few more exquips. She had her fingers crossed, however, that it wouldn't come to that, since she had come to the assumption that the two Myria she and Natsu had come across were probably the body guards to this area.

Juvia, who was carrying the child on her back and was, making sure to watch her every step so as not to wake the child, arched her head slightly forward to address Gray. "Gray-sama, quiet, you'll wake our baby up."

"That's not our child!"

The red haired girl had to chuckle at that retort by Gray. That sentence, however, made something click at the back of Natsu's mind. He was at one of the far ends of the group, walking besides Erza, and occasionally as he walked he made sure that his finger tips brushed up against hers when she let her arms fall to her sides occasionally. The feel of her touch made him elated from inside each time, but he knew that if he showed how happy he was at the moment Gray would never let him have the end of it. So for now, he would be content with what he was getting.

"Speaking of which," the pink haired man said, as he arched his body forward," you two were going on a mission to rescue a kidnapped child as well, right? How did that go?"

There was a short prelude of silence after that question, in which Gray scratched the back of his head. There was a small blush that appeared on his cheeks as well as he averted his gaze away from Natsu and Erza who were on one side of him, something that Erza took subtle note of, but chose not to say anything in regards to it, at least for that moment. Juvia, on the other hand, was not as careful as that.

She chirped in from the other side, oblivious to Gray's predicament at the moment. "Jura-san was able to retrieve the girl from the island as soon as it was released from the barrier that was surrounding it. She was returned back to her parents and is safe and sound at the moment."

Alas, Juvia had just dropped a bombshell, but she didn't know it as of yet.

"So Gray can't speak about it freely because he feels embarrassed about having someone completing his job for him, is that it?" Erza said, hitting the nail on the head in regards to everything that Gray was feeling, and adding onto a new wave of embarrassment for the dark haired man. He brought his hand to the nape of his neck, shielding his face from Natsu and Erza since he didn't want to make them privy to his embarrassment.

Natsu laughed again at Gray's embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, Gray-sama!"

A moment of silence passed, before the Ice Mage's embarrassment died down and he was able to speak freely once more.

"Thanks a lot guys for not making me feel awkward. Let's just get home and get this entire thing under the rug. I'm feeling kind of stumped today."

However, they were not going to go home just yet.

The voice was silky smooth when it first spoke up, but even then, it still sent shivers up the spine of the group of four.

"Yare, yare, to think that you people could get this far."

**A/N: **Okay first before anything, allow me to apologize for the lengthy break before this story was updated. I was planning to update it last month, but it seems my time run out (plus writer's block is always a pain in the arse) so well I had to push this update to the first week of this month. I am truly sorry and hopefully the next chapter update will be not too late.

On another note, HYPE FOR AQUARIUS COMING BACK OH YEAH!


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